Soul Partners
by Wolves Run Free
Summary: When a fangirl once again ends up in Amestris, she realizes that no one ever told her just how awful it was to be there. Without any fighting skills or any control over her new abilities, Cynthia has to cope with being stuck with a very annoyed homunculus and save them both from dying. Unfortunately for her, no one wants to listen to her advice or sarcastic remarks.
1. Chapter 1

**Soul Partners**

**-Author's Comment-**

**Well. Here I am, a bit stressed with lots of writing to do with my other two stories… and yet oh look, here's another one! I should just stop doing this to myself now, oops.**

**But this story is… well, expect lots of crack fanfiction in here. It's actually a dream I had that one of my friends started begging me to write out and post, and I decided that having something easy and fun to write would be a great change to dabble at on top of my other stories. **

**I'm sorry to those of you who are waiting for the sequel to Shadows of Pride, I promise that I'll start that in very early October. So bear with me until then, okay? :)**

**So here this is. –laughs- Crack fanfiction alert, although it gets a bit more so later on in the story. **

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, Hughes would still be alive if I did~**

* * *

"You want to do what?!" I asked in shock, staring at the white figure in front of me.

The figure stood up, grinning. **"I want to grant that silly wish of yours, girl. You said you wanted to go to Amestris, right? So I'm going to let you go."**

I blinked at the creature that had popped up like some evil jack-in-the-box. "Wait… you're actually Truth? From Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood?"

"**That's correct. I am also the-"**

"-'Universe,' 'god,' 'world,' and 'me,' right?" I interrupted, listing them in random order and forgetting to let the creature do its own little speech and probably ticking it off. "Hold on, hold on, you still haven't explained how I even got here! Is this a dream? Or are you wearing a really good costume with some hidden voice changer or something?"

Truth frowned at me for a moment, then shrugged. **"That's right, I am all of those things. And it doesn't matter how you got here; you're here now, and that's what matters. Now you have subconsciously knocked upon the doors of the Gate, foolish girl, so I will grant you entry."**

"No! Wait! What about school? My friends and family?" Black tendrils suddenly burst out from this tall stone gate that was behind me, wrapping themselves snuggly around my limbs, torso, and head. I squealed in alarm and tried to wrench myself away as I was forcefully dragged backwards, the gates starting swing shut. I screamed again, reaching a shaking hand towards Truth.

The last thing I saw before the gates swung shut was its leering grin. Then it was a brief flash of darkness, and then… everything.

I was helpless to do anything but watch with wide, frightened eyes as knowledge flowed past, something that I could only imagine as a migraine started to throb in my head. "Hey…! Wait a minute, I know I'm a fan, but that was wishful thinking…! Come on, Truth! TRUTH! I was kidding! Kidding…" My voice died in my throat as more pain washed over me, and I suddenly knew that I knew Amestrian.

Now let's get this straight: I _can't_ speak any other languages that English. I'm really, really bad at them, and yet suddenly I knew a completely new one, grammar and everything.

And that wasn't all… sciences I had never heard of, math I had never studied, information on a world other than my own all flowed into my head, and I started blacking out a little with the pain.

Something was coming up ahead; I could see white figures that looked familiar…

They were my family and friends.

I feebly stretched a hand out to reach for them, the pain making tears stream down my face. Just as I lunged the last few inches for a figure's hand, they suddenly vanished, my hand grasping at the air in front of me.

The pain was gone, but so were my family and friends.

A sense of loss came over me, and I staggered, leaning against the gate. I looked up, fighting back tears to watch as Truth grinned at me. **"Well? Did you enjoy the truth?" **It asked in amusement, and I shivered, glancing at the gate with wide eyes. Suddenly, in that instant before I had grasped the white figures, I had known the truth: if I had managed to grasp the figures, I would have known how to go home.

As it was, I was trapped all alone, about to pay the price for my silly wishes and daydreams about a show I had considered fictional and an impossible dream until today.

Well, dang it, this wish was certainly reality biting me in the butt.

"No, actually, I would have been just fine _not_ being dragged into there against my will and just going home," I said, my voice shaking a little as a dug my fingernails into my skin to try and turn my tears off. "What is my payment? I don't want to lose a body part…" My voice pitifully tailed off, and I blanched as I realized that I could lose an entire arm or leg. Hell, I had never even fractured a bone before, so I couldn't imagine what that kind of pain would be like.

Truth giggled, a giggle that I would have sworn only an insane madman could have pulled off. **"You don't? Well, how about I raise the price in exchange that it doesn't hurt?"**

"What in the world does that mean?" I asked suspiciously. "But… no pain? Is it my memory? You can't have that, that's what makes me _me_!" I informed the being, crossing my arms tightly to try and comfort myself.

"**No, no. How about your humanity?" **Truth asked, grinning at me. **"I know that you would agree with me that it's a very fair payment. You wouldn't mind, right?"**

I stared at the white person for a long moment before my brain registered its words. "You want to turn me into a homunculus?" I tried not to let my eyes light up too much, but I was relieved beyond measure. Becoming a homunculus was a payment I would be more than willing to do; the homunculi were some of my favorite characters in Fullmetal Alchemist and becoming one would be an interesting adventure where I could heal myself without dying from all of the danger that hid in the dark corners of Fullmetal Alchemist. And if I was too truly be trapped in Amestris out of the blue like this and would have to give up something…"That sounds perfect!" I declared, lifting up my head.

Truth flashed another one of those grins, and suddenly I realized something: Truth had been one of my favorite characters, but right now I wasn't exactly thrilled to meet him so abruptly. What about my other favorite characters? Let's see… I had liked a lot of them: Envy, Pride, Greed, Ling, Barry the Chopper, Edward, Riza, Alphonse…

Well uh oh. Aside from a few on that list, I really, _really_ didn't want to meet those characters. And if I became a homunculus…

"Wait, no, I take that back!" I stammered, about to ask if I could have some time to think. But it was too late: in front of my wide eyes, Truth started becoming skin colored as my skin turned even paler than it had already been. I noticed that my bangs that had been hanging in front of my eye turned black, and I suddenly staggered as I grabbed at my chest in pain. "OW!" I shrieked, falling back against the gate with a loud bang. I rested my head against the gate for a moment before groaning and giving one of my glares at Truth, who was now skin-colored. It didn't make it any less creepy-looking. We stared at each other for a moment, and then I managed to miraculously speak again. "Shouldn't I be leaving now, then?"

"**You'd get killed."** Truth said in absolute amusement, tilting its creepy head back at me. **"Even _with_ your new Philosopher's Stone, might I add."**

"Probably." I agreed, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "But I can get by… I think. I've read enough fanfiction to know what to do in these situations!" I announced, trying to smile again. "Since when the heck did you care about whether or not your… guests lived or not afterwards?"

I mused that Truth would probably roll its eyes if it could as it replied. **"You aren't an alchemist. So I'm allowed to give you a bit of … extra help, for amusement if nothing else."**

"Okaaaaay." I said. Now that I was no longer in pain and getting used to the fact that this wasn't some sick joke, I felt a bit better. Well, actually, I couldn't feel my heart anymore and that was a little creepy, but it was better than needing automail right about now.

"**First," **Truth said slyly, sitting back down in its strange position. **"From now on, your name is Deceit, not Cynthia."**

"…how did you know my name, you stalker?!" Truth turned its face towards me, and I shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you're 'me.'"

"**Second,"** Truth continued, apparently ignoring my comment. **"Because of the way the creatures like you are, you can't use the information from the gate you achieved. Instead, you have one power corresponding to your new name and personality."**

"Personality?!"

"**Third, I'm going to give you a guide."** Truth continued, again, like it was completely ignoring the girl whose life it had just shredded into little bits and taped back together into a new shape. **"Whoever you touch first in Amestris will have their souls linked to yours; you will be able to feel each others pain, and if one dies so does the other."**

"Hey, wait, hold the flipping phone! I don't want that!" I declared, shaking my head and crossing my hands into an 'X' in front of me.

"**This makes sure that your guide will keep you alive and healthy," **Okay, that's it, the being was ignoring me now. Great, just great. I hadn't known that Truth could be even more stubborn than me! **"You'll also be unable to go farther than thirty feet from each other." **

"Whaaa…?" I managed to squeak in anger. "Hold on, I-" Suddenly the gate behind me creaked open, the doors shoving me forwards. As I tumbled onto my hands and knees, black hands wrapped around my ankles and yanked. "This conversation was very one-sided!" I managed to yell as I was yanked back into the gate, falling back into the darkness.

* * *

"Hey, are you ok?" A voice asked in Amestrian, and I moaned as I rolled over.

"_**Let me sleep… five more minutes**._" I promised in English, feeling strangely uncomfortable. Suddenly the events of the day replayed in my head, and I shot up into a sitting position. I turned and noticed a man peering down at me in surprise, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he held out a hand for me to take to help myself up. Why did he look like he was straight out of an anime…?

Oh. _Oh._

_Whoever you touch first…_

I managed a small forced smile at the man and stood up myself, brushing my jeans and hoodie clean. Somehow I had ended up in an alleyway on the floor, and the smell made me wince a little. Slowly, hesitantly, I managed to speak in stammering Amestrian. "Uh, thanks but… no thank you. I have to be going, mister."

"Hey, wait-" The man said in surprise as I dodged around him and darted out into the street.

A quick scan of my area made me wince a little; everything looked like it was from Fullmetal Alchemist, all right. I sighed, pushing my glasses up and studying the people; everything about this strange situation was like a wonderful dream and nightmare at once, and I scratched my neck as I thought.

"I've got no money, no clue as to where I am at the moment, and if I bump into anyone by accident I'm doomed." I said to myself, walking forwards and trying to stay close to the walls of the buildings to avoid touching anyone. "Should I try to find Edward or Alphonse to touch first? No… they get beaten up waaaay too much. I don't want to deal with that." I groaned, looking down another alley way and noticing that it led to another street.

I spotted something that looked familiar, and started cautiously walking down the alley. When I reached the end, I squinted up at the surrounding buildings and recognized one in the far off distance; was that the military headquarters? I grinned, giving myself a mental gold star. "Lucky me~" I hummed, a song popping into my head as I realized that I could go ask Roy Mustang for help. He would help out a frightened kid like me, right?

I, despite my aversion to running, started jogging down the street. Everything was going pretty well, actually. All I had to do was-

A misplaced crate was my doom. My foot hit it rather hard, and I was wearing flipping flip flops. A yell tore from my throat, and I tumbled forwards…

Right into some poor soul that was now stuck with me.

_DANG IT ALL!_

"Ow! Oh, are you all right? Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I-" I said, trying not to cry again. The pain faded quickly, though, and I relaxed until the person I had fallen on shoved me off of him. Jerk. I lifted my head to glare at him, and my mouth dropped open.

The man raised one eyebrow at me, and a slightly feminine voice reached my ears. "Watch where you're going, why don't you?" He snapped, placing a hand on his hip.

I just stared at him for a long moment, realizing with sinking stomach something bad: I. Had. Touched. _Envy._

Ooooh dear.

I took a deep breath and stood up, facing him. His eyes flicked to my face, and he frowned slightly. _Got to be cool about this… _

"What are you doing here, Envy?" I asked nervously, shifting to my other foot.

That was the wrong thing to say. Envy immediately stiffened, and I was slammed to the wall by my throat. "How do you know my name?!" He hissed, his purple eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"

"Wait, wait, wait, DON'T KILL ME!" I yelled, thrashing weakly. He was much stronger than he looked, darn palm tree. I took back that he was one of my favorite characters as well, this was going to be terrible. "I'm a homunculus too! I- HEY!" Envy had lessened his grip, studying my face for a moment, before smirking and grabbing me around the waist, hoisting me over his shoulder so I awkwardly hung there like some corpse. A very uncomfortable corpse at that, sheesh. Why did this guy have such bony shoulders, again? "Come on, Envy, put me down! I didn't do anything!"

Envy muttered something under his breath, and I squirmed a bit more before glaring down at Envy's back and complaining. "Envy! Stop it! Hey!"

"Stay still, or I'll knock you out," the homunculus threatened, and I cringed, going limp. "I don't know if by some sad miracle a pathetic weakling like you _is_ a homunculus or not, but we'll let Father be the judge of that. You look enough like one, anyways. I have yet to see a human with purple eyes."

Oh, shoot. I groaned unhappily, watching Envy turn down another alleyway and walking towards something. I heard a door creak open, and we entered a dank stairway before Envy shut the door behind us. I knew where this was, all right.

I was so dead, and Envy hasn't even found out about the entire 'guide' problem yet.

HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME.

_Ok, ok,_ I told myself firmly, thinking. _Maybe other homunculi didn't count as people to truth, so I'm not stuck with Envy! I'll have to test that theory somehow, though…_

I considered different theories, but the only way I could think of was hurting myself and see if Envy noticed any pain. I wasn't very keen on that, though, not to mention I shouldn't try and aggravate the psychotic palm tree too much for now.

Growling interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see red eyes staring at me. The gatekeepers, right. I had almost forgotten about them… dang it. Now, if even I wasn't stuck with Envy, I was going to be trapped here. In fact, it would be better to be stuck with Envy, because then I wouldn't die.

Getting beaten up does not qualify as dying, unfortunately.

"Is it too late to take what I said back?" I asked weakly as Envy strolled forwards, his feet slapping the floor of the underground tunnels. I noticed several bones, and cringed a little before trying to ignore them. Envy, being the little ray of sunshine that he is, completely ignored me (what's with everyone ignoring my questions today, geez) we stepped into a larger, darker room. Even facing backwards, I knew exactly where we were.

"Envy? What is it?" A voice asked, and I cringed as I was suddenly dropped to the ground. I managed to twist and hand on my back without getting hurt, thankfully, but I wasn't exactly ecstatic about this entire scenario. Sitting up slowly, I examined the many cords running throughout the room, all connected to the chair in the middle of the room. A man sat there, someone whom I was officially nervous of. Father.

"I found a rat claiming to be a homunculus." Envy said coldly, eyeing me. "She has the basic characteristics, though, so I thought you would be interested in her."

I glared back at the teenager, biting back a retort I knew I would regret, when Father stood up and walked over to where I was. I blinked up at him nervously, noticing his almost-white beard and hair. Yep, this was it, I was dead. Father motioned me to stand up, and I nervously did as he circled me. He considered me for a moment, and then spoke.

"Who made you?" He questioned, staring at me.

I blanched, suddenly interested in my feet. Lying seemed downright stupid, but I suddenly had the strange impulse to lie anyways so I decided to try and help my chances of survival with a mix of the two. "I… performed human transmutation, sir. My payment was apparently my humanity, and I'm really sorry about intruding on anything!" _Was that strange impulse my deceit?_

Both Envy and Father stared at me in surprise, and I laughed nervously before pushing my glasses up again. After a moment, Father gave me a nod before turning to Envy. "Envy. Care to prove she's telling the truth?" I barely had time to open my mouth before Envy suddenly grinned cruelly and attacked me, his hand shape shifting into a spear and stabbing through my _body._ I stared down at it, puzzled, and then the pain hit me and I started yelling as I saw black. I fell back to the ground as the spear vanished, clutching my chest as the black pressed in on me, red sparks the only thing I could see. After a moment, my vision returned, and I gasped in shock as I sat up and stared down at my perfectly fine and not skewered body. Had I… had I just _died?_

My predictions should stop being so darn right.

Envy was kneeling, his hand clutched to his chest and his eyes wide with surprise. "What was that?!" He yelled, his eyes narrowing at me threateningly. "How did you hurt me?"

I rubbed my face with one hand, wiping away a few tears, and winced as the pain started to vanish. "About that…" I swallowed, managing a shaky smile. "When I performed the human transmutation, I was transported to Amestris for some reason. My home is a really long way away, so Truth said I would get a guide for here by being mentally linked to whoever I touched first, able to share any pain with them and unable to go more than thirty feet away. And, um, if either of us dies, so does the other. Sorry, I really didn't mean to trip into you…" I nervously laughed, cringing as Envy stared at me.

"You have _got _to be joking_._" Envy looked like someone had just told him that he had gotten drunk and had married a palm tree by accident. I swallowed as he stood up abruptly and advanced towards me, and I scrambled away before he decided to kill me then and there.

"Envy." Father intervened, stopping the enraged homunculus. "Don't kill the girl. Actually, this works to our advantage since we have acquired another human sacrifice, and this one can't leave your side. Keep her healthy and out of sight for now."

Oh _joy_. I resisted the urge to bang my head against a wall, realizing that I had just been both saved and doomed at once. I was the one and only homunculus sacrifice, folks, what an absolute honor! NOT.

Envy paused and glowered at me for what felt like an hour, and then he sighed. "Fine, I'll take care of the weakling. Come on, then!" He snapped, and I scrambled after him out of Father's room.

Envy was fuming with anger as we walked down the corridor, and he suddenly stopped and told me to wait right there. In front of my confused eyes, he took off, running as fast as he could and turning a corner right up ahead. I waited, wondering what he was-

A jerk suddenly yanked me forwards, and I started being dragged across the floor against my will. Yelling curses, I grabbed a pipe to try and stop myself, but after a moment I was yanked off of it. After a brief moment, the sensation stopped, and then the wispy-haired sin stepped back into view. He seemed even madder then before, and I realized that he must have been testing the entire 'thirty feet' thing.

"If I figure out how to get of this, you're dead!" He snapped, and I sheepishly hurried up to him. "And I'm not going to make it painless, either, I'll start by ripping you apart and-"

"I'm Cyn- er, Deceit, by the way," I offered, and he shot me a glare which made me cringe. Well, it was better than having him go on about ways to kill me.

"Deceit? That's a stupid name," he scoffed, and I glared back at him.

"Hey, the seven sins are all taken, don't blame me!" Envy gave me a _look,_ and I was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Oh, come on, it's not so bad. We're like, soul mates," I offered. This latest thing that had come out of my mouth without careful consideration made both of us freeze, and Envy slowly turned to face me. His face was a mix of 'You are so dead right now,' 'What is _wrong _with you,' and 'Say that ever again and you will die a painful death.'

I started coughing, my face turning pink. "Ah, uh, n-no, I didn't mean **that**! Oh, geez… you know what? Forget I said that." Envy raised one eyebrow at me before turning his back on me and starting to walk again when another idea popped into my head. "We're more like soul partners, anyways."

Sometimes, I wish I knew when to just shut up. And right now was one of those times.

Somehow, I knew I was in for a very long, painful week.

* * *

**Am I the only one that likes Envy as a character but really wouldn't want to meet him? XD**

**Expect more insanity starting next chapter. –chuckles-**

**If you like it, please review… it makes the fanfiction world go around…. –nudgenudge-**


	2. Chapter 2

**Soul Partners**

**-Authors Note-**

**Okay, so I was bored and really enjoyed writing the first chapter, plus all of your guy's awesome reviews made me decide to release this early instead of waiting. So here you guys go, here's chapter two early!**

**Expect lots more crack in this chapter and a little OOC… but it sure was fun to write! :D**

**I don't own FMA.**

* * *

"I'm spitting up blood over heeeeere," I moaned, lying facedown on the ground. There was a crackle of energy, and the pain vanished from my stomach as I sat up and rubbed my head. "Can I go to sleep now?"

"No," Envy said is disgust, crossing his arms. "Now that I'm stuck with you, you have to learn to fight. Because if you're the cause of my defeat, I will-"

"You've gone over that magical picture," I said, covering my ears with my hands. "I don't want to hear how many organs I have again and how you would rip them all out. That's creepy and disgusting!"

Envy's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly attacked me again, grabbing me by the hood and throwing me across the room. I hit the wall with a sickening crunch, and both Envy and I hissed in pain. Well, Envy hissed, I curled up into a ball and started crying a little. "I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT COULD BREAK," I wailed, sitting back up a minute later. "Envy, you're using all of my energy and I haven't even known you for more than forty minutes! What if you kill us both, huh?"

"Stop whining!" Envy snapped, smacking me on the head. "If some of my enemies found out about this, they would try and kill you to defeat me! And it would work, too! Remind me again why you have to be so damn weak?!"

"I'm sorry that I never expected suddenly being your personal punching bag," I said sarcastically, getting up and walking over to where I had put my glasses to avoid breaking them. I placed them back on my face, wondering what I would do if they broke. "Come on, Envy, can't we go explore the city or something? Anything other than this, I'll get stronger by running around, too!"

Okay, yes, I _was_ desperate enough to offer to go running. But sheesh, getting smacked into walls every two minutes wasn't fun, either!

"You want me to let you outside? You're joking right, weakling?" Envy asked, unimpressed by my offer.

I banged my head against the wall, glowering at Envy for a moment. "Since when did you become my mom, you psychotic, cross-dressing palm tree?" I insulted, narrowing my eyes at the new bane of my life.

Envy blinked, his eyes narrowing. He could sense the insult, I guessed, but… "Palm tree?" He asked slowly, looking me up and down. "What's a palm tree?"

It was my turn to blink in surprise. "Uh… it's a type of tree?" I said hesitantly, realizing that Amestris was a land-locked country. Of course there were no palm trees here. "It only has about five or seven leaves, and they don't overlap. They all stick out like the points of a star, I guess. So… basically your hair."

Envy's eyes narrowed, and he gritted his teeth. "Do you _want _to die again, you weakling?"

My eyes widened, and I quickly shook my head. "You wouldn't."

"I can handle pain much, _much_ better than you," Envy said coldly. "Killing you once would be worth it."

"Okay, bad joke, bad joke!" I muttered, cringing. "I take it back! You look absolutely beautiful and masculine! You make roses grow where you step, and even the hardest hearts weaken when they see your perfect form!"

Envy raised his eyebrows, staring at me for a long moment with a blank expression. "…I'm not even sure how to reply to that," he finally said, although a hint of amusement had come back into his voice.

I laughed nervously, inwardly giving a sigh of relief. I was started to think Envy had only three emotions when it came to me: furious, insane, and confused. But wouldn't envious need to be included in that count? I considered it for a moment, and then decided that there was nothing to be envious of me for. I wasn't a human; therefore I was safe from that particular emotion of his.

"So this is the homunculus I've heard so much about?" A voice said from the shadows, and Envy and I both glanced over to see Lust step out of the shadows, followed closely by Gluttony. "It seems you've got your hands full, Envy."

"Can I eat her, Lust? Can I eat her?" Gluttony rasped, his little eyes locking onto me. "I like girls, they're so soft and sweet."

"Uh… thanks?" I offered, cringing as drool dripped out of Gluttony's mouth. "Hey, Gluttony, have you ever heard of what vegetarians are?"

"Vegetarians?"

"That's right, that's right." I nodded, smiling. "They are people who don't eat meat. At all. NADA. You should become one... food starts tasting even better than when you eat meat!"

"Deceit, stop lying," Envy said in disgust as Gluttony sucked on his finger and tilted his head to the side. "We need him to eat people for us."

"…that is so sick and wrong." I paused, turning and considering him. "Did you just tell someone called _Deceit_ to stop lying? You're kidding, right? That's like telling Gluttony not to drool when he sees a dead person. Which is disgusting, by the way."

Envy shrugged, and Lust studied me for a moment. I stared back at her, wondering how on earth she got _anything_ done in that uncomfortable dress. It looked really awkward to run around in. "Has she been causing you much trouble already, Envy?"

"You have no idea," he groused, shooting me a frown. I stuck my tongue out at his back, and noticed a ghost of a smile on Lust's face. Envy noticed it too, and scowled at her. "This weakling can't even throw a single punch, let alone hold her own in a fight. I can't believe my bad luck; the day after I got back from Lior, and _this_ happens."

Lior? That was relatively early on in the show. I tucked away this new information, and rested my hands on the opposite arms as I watched the two talk. Envy didn't seem to mind Lust very much, but I didn't think there was anything other than a mutual goal that they shared. But Lust would probably be a decent girlfriend for Envy…

Well _there's_ an idea.

An evil smirk found its way on my face, and I started scheming ways to get the two on a date. There was a tag-along for both of them, so a double date would be best.

Hey, wait… didn't that mean Gluttony and I would be on a date as well…?

Ergh, no way!

I blanched, glancing at Gluttony, who was _still_ drooling while he looked at me. Even if he were the only other person left in the world, no way would I even consider _that_. I would just have to get him to leave Lust alone for an hour or two and play the waiter.

"I don't even want to know what's going through your head." Envy observed, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Well, I don't want to know what you're thinking, either, so the feeling is mutual." I informed him, deciding to consider my idea again later on.

"…anyways," Lust said, turning to Envy. "Pride says that there's a man in the West that has been poking around the tunnels, and has learned too much."

"Why can't Pride kill him if he's in the tunnels? I've got my own problems here." Envy said, crossing his arms.

Lust shrugged, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. "Pride can't leave the tunnels, remember? You can train… Deceit on the way there. Now hurry up; it's a four day trip, and the first train leaves in an hour."

I perked up a little, relieved that Envy's threats to keep me away from the sun until the Promised Day were now void. But… I didn't want to see someone _die._ I watched Envy out of the corner of my eye, who had finally nodded and grinned as he looked forwards to torturing and killing another insignificant human. He was a murderer, I remembered in alarm, the fact hitting me like a ton of bricks. In fact, I would probably be dead if I wasn't his 'soul partner' by now.

But because I was now, he wouldn't kill me. I was basically a prisoner right now, sure, but I couldn't be _killed_. Hurt, yes, but only a little bit if Envy wanted me to live through all of the fights coming up.

So that meant I could annoy him and take damage control as much as I wanted to risk doing…?

I blinked, then grinned. And my friends had thought thought I was annoying when I really tried, and I just did it partly out of fun. This time I would do it both out of fun and attempt to fix everything Envy did wrong.

_Game on, then, Envy the Jealous._

* * *

"I lost the Game," I announced like it was something vital, holding up a pointer finger as I shifted in the uncomfortable train seats.

Envy, sitting across from me, slowly turned and examined my finger like it had an explanation written on it. "The Game?" He asked, taking the bait.

I nodded, keeping my face serious with slight difficulty. "Yes. The Game is very important, Envy, and you just lost it."

"No, I didn't! How the hell could I have lost the Game if I don't know what it is?!" Envy snapped, grabbing the front of my hoodie and threateningly shoving a clenched fist in my face as if he was going to punch me.

Uncomfortable at our proximity, I shielded my face with my hands while yelling. "Okay, okay, you win, I'll explain the rules, all right? The face is merchandise! Do not hurt the face!"

Envy released me, and I fell back in the seat with a relieved sigh. "Okay, then. The Game is a game where whenever you think of the Game, you lose. Got it?"

"What?" Envy stared at me, his brow furrowed. "So you mean… you just lost the Game again?"

"Yes, young padawan, very good." I agreed, grinning. "So whenever I say I lost, so do you."

"That… is ridiculously stupid." Envy informed me, looking unimpressed.

I leaned my face on the palm of my hand, grinning. "Just wait, one day we'll walk into the bat cave and I'll say I lost the Game, and so will all the other homunculi!"

"Bat cave? You mean Father's throne room?" Envy asked, watching the other passengers as we waited to arrive at our destination for the night.

"Throne room, evil lair, bat cave, what ever you wish to call it."

"And if I'm not playing that stupid game?"

"You have to play once you know about it."

"No, I don't!" Envy snarled, glowering at me _again._ Sheesh, between being bored and angry with me, Envy seemed so darn touchy. "And I doubt any of the other homunculi would agree to that stupid game, either!"

Both of us fell silent, and I turned to watch the landscape blur by via the window. After a minute of silence, I grinned and turned back to Envy.

"Hey… have you ever heard of the game Glass House?" **[1]**

* * *

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"No you're not! You're just upset because you couldn't win!" I screamed, running for my life through the different train cars closely followed by a bloodthirsty homunculus.

"Tell me what the Glass House is already, then!" Envy said in anger, actually _denting_ a metal door as he shot towards me. Jeez, he had some serious anger issues!

I paled, diving underneath him so he missed me by an inch and scrambling back into a run. People stared at us in absolute alarm, and if I weren't so terrified at the moment, I would laugh. "I can't tell you the rule, that's cheating!"

"Well who said I played by the rules?" The short-tempered homunculus lunged, snatching at my hood. To his satisfaction and my horror, he missed and grabbed my hair, yanking me backwards. I was lucky that he had grabbed enough hair that it didn't hurt that badly, but I went sprawling back and into Envy's arms, staring into his purple eyes uncomfortably close.

Well this was awkward.

"Envy! Let go, let go, let go!" I managed to splutter, trying to slap him. Envy promptly slung me back over his shoulder in all of its bony glory, carrying me back to our seats where he dumped me on one of the benches and sat down next to me, keeping a grip on my wrist.

"Tell me the rule," he demanded childishly, eyes narrowed.

I glared at him, annoyed at having to break the rules, "Fine. Say please."

"I'm not saying please to ask for the answer!" Envy said in disgust, whacking me on the head again.

"Ouch! No, saying please was the Glass House! That's the answer, which you didn't even stumble on _once_!" I said, starting to laugh.

Envy stared at me, his mouth dropping open. He smacked himself in the face with his hand, hard enough that I felt the stinging pain on my own face, and then eyed me. "What kind of damn games do you have in your home country, anyways?!"

"Well, there are some easier ones which are probably here as well," I said cheerfully, aware that he wasn't going to kill me just yet. "But those particular ones seemed like the most fun to play at the moment."

"I can't believe I was outsmarted by a weakling like you," Envy groaned in annoyance, continuing to give me the stink eye.

"I take offense to that!" I said, frowning at him. "It's 'cause I'm weak that I'm smarter, since while you've been killing people and practicing your evil laugh, I was writing, reading, and studying, thank you very much!"

"I'm a lot, lot older than you! I have had time for multiple hobbies!" Envy shot back, crossing his arms again. "It's just because you didn't explain the rules to that game!"

"That was the point, my child."

"I'm older than you!"

"I know that, my child."

Envy's left eye was actually _twitching_. I tried not to fall over laughing hard enough to break a rib, and started to snort instead. Envy gave me a look of bloody murder, and abruptly punched me in the shoulder hard enough to crack _something._ I didn't even want to know anymore.

"Shitake Mushrooms whyyyyy!" I hissed, doubling over. Envy shot me an annoyed glance as he cringed as well, but his face didn't show any of the pain.

Dang it, he was good.

"You really don't need to go out of your way just to do something so _wonderful_ for me," I said as soon as the pain faded, letting sarcasm drip off of my words. "Just your gentle… smirk thing makes me feel all mushy inside as it is."

Envy slowly turned and stared at me again, his face asking if I was joking. "Forget Deceit, your name should have been Sarcasm or Annoyance!" He said in exasperation. "I swear, I have never met _anyone_ as annoying and weird as you, and my brother is Gluttony, who asks to eat whoever we meet."

"Thank you!" I said, giving Envy a thumb up. "I try my best!"

Envy looked like he was considering committing suicide just to get ride of me. After a moment of silence, he managed to take a deep breath and spoke. "That's it. We're doing more training as soon as we get to our destination for the night."

I cringed, suddenly regretting aggravating him, and Envy cruelly grinned at me. "Don't think you can defeat me?" He taunted, and I scowled at the floor, my good mood vanishing.

"That's right. You're the maniac who's been running around killing people, I was the quiet student," I sighed, cracking my knuckles as I thought. "Basically, you would be Black Star and I would be Tsubaki, even if you _are_ the one can transform into awesome weapons."

Envy looked like he wanted to ask, but he let the Soul Eater reference pass without giving me the satisfaction of explaining yet another amazing thing from my home to him. Without my friends around, my genius was way underappreciated.

"Where are you from, anyways?" Envy asked in annoyance, looking bored at being unable to fight me on a train.

"A very small town far, far away." I told him, unable to get over the sudden impulse to lie that came over me. I bet Truth had done this to me so I didn't give any spoilers to anyone. Heck, I could keep spoilers to myself better than River Song, but nooo. These strange impulses just had to bother me.

Envy grunted, remaining his uninterested self when it came to me that I was getting used to. Because I was bored, I decided to test one of my theories.

"Hey, Envy?" I asked curiously. The green-haired teen looked up at me, tilting his eyebrows up, and I leaned towards him to whisper into his ear. "So have you and Lust ever gone on a date?"

Envy's mouth dropped open, and he turned slightly green. "Wha-" He started, looking shocked. His eye started to twitch again, and he spoke through gritted teeth. "You do realize we're siblings, right?"

"You're homunculi, it's not like you're going to find other homunculi anywhere else," I said reasonably, and then grinned evilly. "Except me, of course. But you're definably not my type."

Envy stared at me in alarm, then made a disgusted noise. "Like you would have a chance with me, anyways."

Okay, ouch. I probably deserved that one, though. "As it is, I'm decently sure that getting stuck with you of all people was a nightmare in on itself."

"Shut up, Deceit."

"Make me."

"I can't believe that someone like you is _trying_ to tick me off." Envy snarled, looking like he wanted something pointy to hit me with again. I stuck my tongue out at him, and his eyes narrowed to slits. "I hope you do realize that the only reason I haven't attacked you yet is because it would cause a scene, right?"

"We already caused a scene when you screamed bloody murder and tried to kill me over Glass House," I said helpfully, and then suddenly perked up. "Hey, Envy, what does it look like when you transform? Can I see?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Didn't I _just_ tell you that I didn't want to cause a scene? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Do you want me to answer that?"

"NO!" Envy was pretty much simmering with anger, and I slid another inch away from him as I wondered if I had gone too far again. "Now just shut up and behave yourself!"

I decided that I had pushed Envy as far as he could sanely go in just one hour (new record for ticking someone off!) and I hadn't even started singing the Endless Song yet. Still, I couldn't help but say what I was thinking; "Sure thing, Soul Partner."

"That's _it_, I'm throwing you out the window and letting your stupid bond thing drag you behind the train and slowly kill you!" Envy hissed, shoving his face into mine. I cringed, wishing I was invisible at the moment. I almost made a snarky comment that he would die as well, but I passed up on it because of my current predicament.

Three hours stuck in Amestris, and I had been threatened with death a grand total of fifty-seven times already… I deserved a freaking medal for that.

Envy, meanwhile, had frozen where he was, staring at me in surprise. I wondered what was wrong when he suddenly shot his hand out and whacked me full on in the face. "OW!" I yelped, falling against the window. "What's your problem now?!"

"Stop yelling, you're causing a scene!" Envy hissed, still staring at me. "I was wondering why you were named Deceit. I guess that makes a bit more sense now."

"_What_ makes sense?"

Envy arched an eyebrow at me, and then realization filled his eyes. "You're even stupider than I thought."

"Hey! What did I do now?" I protested, and Envy started laughing at me. Flustered and confused, I blushed, looking down at my hands.

Or where my hands had _been. _Now there wasn't anything there.

"Envy…? Am I invisible?" I asked slowly, and Envy started snickering even louder.

"I can't believe you didn't even _notice_," Envy said in amusement, covering his face with one hand. "Well, my job here just got easier, at least."

"Really? How?" I asked curiously, and then scowled down at my hands. "This stinks. Turning invisible would have been great because I could have snuck away from a certain insane killer, but now it's absolutely useless!"

"Actually, if no one can see you, then it will be easier for me to get my undercover work done without having to worry about you as much. Plus, even in fights you should be safely hidden, even if very close by, stupid nuisance that you are." He considered me for a moment, and then frowned. "Is it illusions or just invisibility, though?"

"…what? I don't follow you."

"Do I have to spell everything out for you?" Envy said in annoyance. "A power for Deceit would make more sense to be illusions, right? Invisibility alone wouldn't make any sense. Now turn back, weakling."

"Erm… how do I do that again?"

"I don't know! Just do it!" Envy said, exasperated. I frowned at him, but he couldn't see my expression so I concentrated on turning back.

And, wait for it…

Wait for it…

ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING HAPPENED.

"I don't think I can!"

"Oh, for the love of- yes, you can!" Envy said, staring at the space where I was. "Just do what I do when I turn into people."

I considered this, then nodded. "Okay. What do you do?"

"I picture the exact image of what I want to turn into, of course," Envy stated in a 'duh' tone.

I nodded, closing my eyes and trying to picture my face. But… what did I look like as a homunculus? Puzzled, I pictured a me with black hair, purple eyes, and pale skin. I opened my eyes, and Envy nodded as he looked me up and down. As a joke and a quick test, I tried to create a palm tree in the table in front of Envy (We had such good seats because of someone's fancy status as friend of the Führer, might I add.) but the image that appeared was pathetically wavery and unrecognizable. Envy examined it for a moment, then snorted.

"That's pathetic. Don't you have any control over your powers?"

"This is the first time I've used them! Making myself vanish feels so much easier than a complicated illusion out of nothing, give me a break here!" I protested, and made it vanish. Both of us fell silent again, and then something alarming hit me.

"Hey, Envy…"

"What now?" Envy said wearily, staring at me.

I fidgeted, refusing to look at him in the face. "Can we go to the bathroom?"

"The_ ladies_ room? Go yourself, I'm not walking you there because you're too stupid to find it." Envy deadpanned, and I bit my lip.

"It's not that! Besides, I can't go more than thirty feet from you, _remember_? You can just wait outside." Envy stared at me in alarm, and I clasped my hands together pleadingly and gave him the puppy eyes. "Envyyyyyyy."

"I wish I could just kill you already."

"I know that,"I pointed out, watching his face. "Come on, please?"

"...fine. Let's get this damn thing over with, then."

"Great!" I said cheerfully, leaping out of our seat. "And to think, we have another three days on the this train."

Envy stared at me, fuming in annoyance. "I wonder, if I knock you out will I also black out or just feel the pain? Because that would be completely worth it."

"I don't really want to find that out," I said truthfully. "Now come on, let's go!"

"Fine!" Envy snapped, following after me. "I'm coming, but we are not playing any more of your stupid games after this!"

Little did either of us know that the insanity of our little trip had just started…

* * *

**Glass House- a game played by kids where one is the referee, and makes up one rule to the game. The other player(s) take turns guessing what the Glass House is, for example: "Can you tell me if the Glass House is that table?" The referee will answer yes or no, and the rule can be anywhere to the object has to be brown to the use of please when asking, like in Cynthia's and Envy's game, where the correct answer would be "Can you**_** please**_** tell me if the Glass House is_?" When the players think they know the rule, they whisper it in the referee's ear, and are told if that is correct or incorrect. The game continues until everyone has either given up or figured it out. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review. ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Soul Partners**

**And here's chapter three! This one's dedicated to ****Kathryne Buzolic, who has a hilarious story called Fire and Ice. If you liked this story, I would go read hers, it's awesome! She's also the one who told me to go ahead and post this story in the first place, and we have an entire 'Equivalent Exchange' going on, where we give shout-outs and stuff to each other. Yeah. XD**

**We even want to do a cross over between our stories eventually! We've already been messing around with one-shots. She's such a nice and funny person, you guys should go read her story, like I said. –nudges towards other story-**

**So… like usual, crack fanfiction warning for this chapter. If you haven't got that message by now, you really shouldn't be reading this, LOL. You've been warned from here on out~!**

**And why are all of these chapters ending up being 4k and getting longer with each chapter?! Sheesh, there's a constant here. So, concerning this, I have a question for y'all: do you like these chapter lengths? Should they be shorter or longer? Keep in mind that I will eventually have another story or two to work on at the same time, plus my personal life, so longer chapters would take longer to write. ;D**

**And this is somewhat of a filler chapter… sorry. XD**

**I don't own Envy or his world. This world would end if I did.**

* * *

"What do you mean sleep on the train?!" I said in alarm, staring in alarm at Envy. "I can't fall asleep in public like that, nuh-uh! Why can't we just rent hotel rooms?"

Envy ignored me, being the jerkwad that he was. Why I had _ever _liked him as a character baffled me at this point. It was already getting dark outside, and I had been in Amestris a grand total of five hours. And Envy had actually had the nerve to tell me that if I didn't want to sleep with one eye open, I would shut up and sit there. What was I anyways, a dog?

"Envyyyyy," I whined again, considering on tugging his shirt to get his attention. Bad idea, if I wanted to keep my hand. "I need to take a shower and- oh snap, I don't have any other clothes!"

"You don't need them," Envy finally responded in disgust, unable to ignore me anymore. "Homunculi are superior to humans; we don't sweat or whatever the hell humans do that makes their clothes so filthy. So you're clean, your clothes are clean, and yes, you _will_ sleep right there."

I stared at him more a moment, and then slammed my forehead into the table hard enough to hurt both of us. "You stink. And I don't mean because of 'inferior' sweating issues, although if any homunculi had those, it would be you."

I fell silent, staring at my shoes in annoyance. If I asked for better shoes to run in, would Envy tell me to go barefoot? I glanced at him, and then scowled. That was almost as probable as the sun rising tomorrow.

"You said that you knew my name because you were a homunculus, but that still didn't answer the question," Envy suddenly said, and I glanced up at him in surprise. He was watching me, his serpent-like purple eyes never leaving my face like a cat watching a mouse. "You also knew what Gluttony ate, and acted like you knew Lust and Gluttony decently well. Care to explain, weakling?"

"Can't you call me something else already? That gets old really, really fast." I muttered, fidgeting a little.

Envy pointedly stared at me, and I sighed, shifting. "Fine, fine. I got Greed to tell me about all of you guys when I bumped into him by chance," I said, thinking quickly. Lying came naturally, fluently, to my tongue, and I was amazed at the difference from before meeting Truth. "I bumped into him almost right after I performed my transmutation not too long ago, and we exchanged information. I didn't mean to meet any of you, though, the 'nothing is impossible' guy was bad enough."

"Greed? So that guy's still alive, huh?" Envy mused, considering my story. "I assume you mean bumped into figuratively or else _I_ wouldn't be stuck with you. I'm impressed that you survived that long without touching anyone, weakling…how long ago was this?"

"About two weeks ago…?"

"And you didn't notice the differences of a homunculus and a human body in all of that time or touch anyone?" Envy asked skeptically, and I scowled at him.

"No. I just took care of myself like normal and avoided psychotic murderers with a vengeance."

I let out a long sigh, turning to stare out the window and lean my head against the glass as I ended the conversation. It should have been cool, but it wasn't to me; a closer examination of this showed that my skin was as cool as the glass, the absence of a beating heart making my temperature drop several degrees. I could see my reflection, and thoughtfully examined my face. The purple eyes were strange to see, to say the least. The pupils were slitted much like a cat, even more startling against pale skin. But, truthfully, it wasn't that different. Yeah, I looked different and had an impulse to lie; so what? It was better than losing an arm, that was for sure. Was it wrong of me not to feel that sad about losing my humanity? I had had the thing that Envy had been jealous of, and I had given it up without a fight.

I closed my eyes, tired. It had been a long, hectic day. Before I even knew it, I had fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

My dreams were terrible.

Well, terrible might not be the right word. More like downright _weird._

First of all, I had been wandering around this dark, creepy forest. The undergrowth had kept rustling, and I had been running from something that I couldn't remember. The bushes rustled again, and then Envy appeared, falling from the sky.

In a freaking Bat Man costume.

Seriously? Bat Man? Can you picture Bat Man with this long green hair poking out from underneath the mask? It wasn't that majestic. And Envy was like, using his cape to flap like an actual bat. Like I said, _weird._

Then Gluttony burst out of the bushes wearing a Pikachu costume. The two proceeded to dual; all the while I just _stared_ at the two of them in utter confusion until for some reason the Doctor appeared in his TARDIS and told Envy and I to get then proceeded to go save the universe from an evil unicorn.

And no, I don't think this was some message from Truth. This was a weird, random dream, which I would probably forget when I woke up, right?

WRONG.

* * *

A swift jab to my side woke me up, and I stared around the train in confusion, disoriented. Envy was smirking down at me, one eyebrow raised. I stared up at him blankly, counting several things off on my fingers.

One; the sun wasn't up yet. There was just the darkness of night outside, swallowing up any light. I had never woken up earlier then nine or ten when I had the choice, let alone… what time was it, anyways? Four AM? Whatever. Envy wasn't going to hear the end of _this_ one for a long time.

Two; Envy was still smirking at me. Now I wasn't sure about this one, but I guessed that either I was about to get very, very injured, Envy had woken me up early just to tick me off, or hell had suddenly frozen over because Envy was just in a good mood to confuse the world.

You know, making orange juice when life had thrown lemons at him.

Envy waited for me to groan and sit up, glaring at him, when he snickered. "What?" I demanded, brushing at my hair with my hands so it would lie flat.

"You… you…" Envy was actually laughing hard enough to be unable to speak. He covered his face with one hand, chuckling as he glanced at me and grinned at me like a shark that was about to eat dinner. This was DEFINITELY not good. I stared at him, and he finally managed to stock snickering. "When you dream, you actually use your powers by accident," Envy told me, watching my face with a grin. "It was like I was right next to you the entire time! I had no idea your dreams were so _entertaining!_ It's a shame I had to wake you up so no one else noticed them, though, as I didn't know how far someone had to be from you to see that entire thing, but… Bat Man? Who is that, anyways?"

Mortified, I stared at Envy, my face turning even paler then it had already been until I was as white as a sheet. "Bat Man is a superhero from where I come from... Wait, why am I telling you that?!" I started, then covered my face with my hands and sank down until I peeked up from the table at Envy. "I can't control my dreams! It's just a random mash up of my day and… and…. random stuff!"

Envy merely started snickering _again,_ and I suddenly realized how he had felt when I had been teasing him. I moaned, trying not to look directly at Envy. "If I do that again, wake me up earlier next time, Envy!" I complained, and Envy evilly grinned at me.

"But why would I do that?"

I frowned, thinking. After a moment, I hopefully looked up at Envy. "Because you like me?"

Envy arched one green eyebrow at me, an 'are you kidding?' expression on his face.

I sighed, hanging my head. "Long shot? Thought so, but it was still worth a try… ARGH, I CAN'T THINK IN THE MORNINGS!" I pulled my hood over my head, tilting my head back to glare at the ceiling as the train rumbled along. I kind of wanted to go back to sleep, but if whoever was close to me got to see my dreams, then that was one risk I _didn't_ want to take.

Unfortunately, sleeping took up a lot of time. Without sleep, the time passed by even slower than usual, Envy not being in a very talkative mood like usual while I was too tired to say anything or think up witty remarks to brighten my day.

After about, six hours of awkward silence (I almost died of boredom, ugh.), Envy suddenly stood up. He started walking towards the front of the train car, and I stared after him as the train shuddered to a stop. "Hey, wha-aaaat are you doing?!" I asked as I was suddenly yanked off the seat and hit the ground, being dragged forwards. Some passengers gave me alarmed looks like I was some freak (sad but true at the moment) and some passengers took to heart the 'that kid's a freak. Do not make eye contact, do not pause or talk to insane person, keep pretending. Ignorance is bliss, children!'

Can't exactly blame them.

I managed to scramble to my feet, racing for the front of the car just the doors were started to be closed, Envy probably just about to hit the thirty feet mark again. "Wait, wait, wait!" I shouted, diving forwards and uncoordinatedly tumbling on to the sidewalk. The train aid person gave me an amused stare, and I flushed, staying on the ground for a moment as I groaned.

Feet appeared in front of my face, and I scowled at them. They were bare asides from a black sock that didn't cover the toes or ankle. I _wonder_ who would wear those, huh?

"If you didn't feel that, I can assure you that that _hurt_." I complained, slowly sitting up.

Envy shrugged, not caring like usual. He had been more joking and less... annoyed in the show. But I suppose he hadn't had me to deal with... wait, what was I saying? I was the ray of sunshine in my friend's lives! He should be _glad_ I was around to make jokes! "Yeah, yeah. We're switching trains here."

"And you couldn't have just said so?" I followed him to the train station, huffing in annoyance. "Not only am I down in sleep, but now-"

To my disgust and alarm, I tripped _again._ I swear, I wasn't this uncoordinated before I came to Amestris. I blamed Truth; the little liar must have taken my balance as well. But wait… could the Truth lie?

Whatever.

"Are you ok?" A voice asked, a hand catching mine before I hit the ground. I looked up, noticing a guy of about sixteen looking concerned. I must have tripped over his foot, darn it. "You aren't hurt are you? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying any attention…"

"It's my fault, sorry," I muttered, regaining my footing and nodding thanks. He gave me a grin and shrugged.

"I don't know, isn't it normal for angels to be disoriented when they fall from heaven?"

I stared at him in alarm, my face slowly turning pink again. Was this guy for real? You didn't just start hitting on girls you just met in real life, right? But this wasn't real life, it was Amestris… or could this be considered real now and my old world fake?

And wait, they had that bad pickup here, too?! I thought that was a joke!

I was saved from the embarrassment of answering when Envy reappeared. For once, I was thankful. He would drag me off, and that would be that.

"Hey, do I have to drag you there or what?" He snapped, glaring at me. I shrugged apologetically at the guy, slipping my hand free from his and hurrying over to Envy.

"Hey, wait!" The guy said, his eyes flicking to Envy and back to me. "Is this your friend? Why don't we go grab a bite to eat; I have a friend who's really into cute girls like her that would be willing to take her out to lunch as well."

I covered my mouth with first one hand, and then the other. I sneaked a glance at Envy, whose mouth had actually _dropped_ open. The poor guy didn't recognize the horrified look on Envy's face and continued digging his own grave while Envy started _shaking_ with rage.

I was getting really concerned about the health of this poor guy. I didn't _think_ he had meant any harm, so I started making a 'stop, you idiot!' motion at him, drawing my hand across my throat in a frantic motion.

"You think I'm a…. girl?!" Envy finally hissed, stomping forwards and grabbing the guy by the shirt. "Look here, I don't know if you're just stupid, blind, or just begging for death, but I have somewhere to be, bastard." With that, Envy grabbed the poor guy by the arm and jerked it behind his back hard enough for me to hear a crack.

I cringed as the guy yelped, and Envy kneed him in the stomach before stalking back to me, eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm guessing you don't like being mistaken for a girl?" I asked nervously, eyes wide.

Envy actually _snarled _at me before grabbing me and slinging back over (you guessed it!) his shoulder.

"Envy! Hey, hey, hey! Let me down! Not again! Come onnnn!" I said in annoyance, squirming a bit before giving up. Envy was reasonably ticked off right now… I didn't really have anything I could say without dying again or getting my head bitten off.

Deciding to wisely shut up, Envy and I silently boarded another train where I was dropped into the seat by the window as Envy also took his seat. He was glaring out the window past my head, and I waved a hand in front of his face to see his reaction.

"Envy…?"

"Not a word!" He hissed, and I shrank back. I would have whistled, but I had no idea how. Man, was he ticked. It's a good thing that I hadn't teased him on that… that would have been a very tough lesson to learn.

The rest of the day was, to say the least, boring. Envy was actually _brooding_ over what this random guy had said. He was actually a lot more vain then the show had hinted at, but I suppose that's what came from being born as a giant… lizard… thing. Note to self: the show had left out a lot of things that would have been really nice to know right about now.

Sleep that night was a nervous endeavor, which was luckily dreamless.

* * *

The sun streamed into my fast through the train window, and I groaned, covering my face with my hands and slowly stretching. I blinked open my eyes, picking up my glasses from the table and slipping them on and glancing around. To my surprise, Envy was reading a book, flipping through the pages with quick glances at each page.

"Where'd you get the book?" I asked curiously, studying the cover. It was in Amestrian, unsurprisingly. I frowned, then my brain suddenly decided to remind me of my glimpse of the gate because I could suddenly read the title. "Alchemical Theories and Equations," I said curiously, frowning in confusion at Envy. "Why are you reading about _alchemy?_"

Envy glanced up at me and scowled. "So you're up, huh, weakling?" He asked, ignoring my question. "You sleep long enough for a human, at any rate."

"What do you mean? How long did _you_ sleep?" I asked, frowning. Come to think of it, Envy hadn't bothered sleeping the night before last, since he had seen my entire dream and then woken me up. How come he wasn't the least bit tired?

"I only sleep about three hours a day to pass the time," Envy said in disdain. "Why would I waste my time sleeping like some disgusting human?"

I blinked, scratching my head. "So you don't sleep normally? Is that for all homunculi or just you?"

"All of us, stupid." Envy said disdainfully, and I stuck out my tongue at him. "You could stop sleeping, too, if you just stopped behaving like such a weak creature and actually accepted what you are."

"From what Greed said, you sound like Pride now."

"Hmph, you think so, weakling?" Envy asked in amusement, luckily not that offended. He examined me, then shrugged and glanced down at the book again. "I read these so I know how to beat up alchemists, obviously. Anything _else _you want to know about my personal life?"

"That wasn't that personal a question," I pointed out, and Envy glowered at me. "Okay, okay, no. I don't need to know your hopes and dreams, okay?"

Envy ignored me, and I sighed, bored.

"Hey, Envy…? We haven't eaten in… oh wow, at least forty-eight hours!" I cringed, wondering how I hadn't noticed that before. My stomach hadn't growled or had any hunger pains yet, which was weird. "Envy? Envy, I'M GOING TO STARVE!"

"Is your name Gluttony? I don't think so," Envy said sarcastically, slamming the book shut. "Again, like sleep we only do it to pass the time, keep appearances up, or just do it for the tastes… unless you're Gluttony. He eats a LOT. Lust and the others eat about once a day because they enjoy the taste of food. Homunculi live off of the excess energy from our Stones."

"So we don't need to eat at all?!" I asked nervously, staring at Envy. Now that I thought about it, I wasn't hungry at all despite the large amount of time that had passed, but I still cringed at the thought of getting malnourished. All I needed to live off of was my Philosopher's Stone? But... I didn't remember getting one, but Truth had mentioned it, hadn't he? Plus, I could heal myself like the other homunculi. Where had the... the _resources_ to make mine come from? I shivered, deciding to ask Truth if I ever saw the creep again. "How come I still have to use the bathroom, then?"

Envy glared at me in annoyance, crossing his arms. "It's only one meal we missed for the others. I don't care for eating and sleeping, and I'm not going out of my way any more than necessary for you, weakling. And it's because you've still been eating like a human, which _isn't_ going to continue for however long I'm stuck babysitting you."

I pouted, unhappy at the idea of not eating for a while but intrigued by the notion that I didn't need to eat anymore. Even though Homunculi shared most of the same aspects with their bodies as a human, there were a bunch of prominent differences beside the one power and healing powers the show had never mentioned. I shrugged, deciding to just accept that I didn't need to eat or sleep. "Can't you call me something else? I don't call _you_ names, Envy."

"No, I can't."

"Why nottttt."

"You've already asked me this!"  
"You never answered!"

"I can call you what I want." Envy stated, glaring at me. "I hate it when people are weak, and, until you're stronger, which I doubt you'll ever be, I'll continue to call you weakling."

I stared at him, and then shrugged. "Then… Then I'll call you Soul Partner!"

"Don't. You. _Dare._" Envy threatened, and I innocently grinned at him.

"I can do what I want~" I mocked, and his eyes narrowed as he gripped the table. A cracking sound made me wince as cracks appeared in the table, and I wondered how we would survive two more days on a train together.

Heck, how would I survive being with Envy for… who knows how long?!

I sighed, suddenly tired and pushed my hair back from my face. "That's a really scary face, Envy, please put it away." I said lightly, forcing the dark thoughts out of my head. "So. Want to play Tic Tac Toe?"

"No."

"What? But… but its Tic Tac Toe!"

"I don't play games."

"You played them before," I pointed out, frowning at the spiky-haired sin. "But… darn it! Do you have any paper or a pen, by any chance?"

"Do I look like a traveling store to you?" Envy said irritably, and I shrugged,

"Well you made a book magically appear, why not a pen and some paper?"

Envy snickered. "There's no such thing as magic."

"There's no such thing as no such thing-"

"I had to live with Greed for long enough before he took off!" Envy cut in, and I grinned at his disgusted expression.

"You're telling me, and I only knew the guy for a short while," I lied, laughing. I hadn't even seen Envy this talkative yet even in the show except for a few times, and that was mostly when he was talking about killing, torturing, or manipulating humans. **"_It's too bad I can't go home without the help of alchemy_,"** I said in English, thinking to myself about the show.

Envy frowned, tilting his head to the side. "What language is that?" He asked, thinking. "I can recognize a lot of languages by ear but I don't know that one. It sounds a bit like your accent. That's your home language, isn't it?" His eyes suddenly narrowed, and he glared at me. "Did you call me a palm tree again?"

"Did I… what? No!" I said, starting to laugh again at the expression on Envy's face. "What on earth gave you that impression?"

"You said something so I wouldn't understand!" Envy huffed, glowering at me. "What else would I think? What _is_ that language, anyways?"

"Oh. It's English," I said awkwardly, a little nervous at telling him the name. What if he looked it up and it didn't exist? But I could just say that is was an uncommon dialect of Xing or something.

"English? Huh." Envy leaned back, propping his feet up on the cracked table. "So you come from a place called Englian? Englis?"

"Uh… no." I shrugged, wondering how I would explain the fact that English was the national language when, in truth (see what I did there?), it wasn't in this world. "My home doesn't have a name in this language, or at least I can't think of one…"

Envy examined me for a moment longer and then relaxed, bored with our conversation. "Or you don't want to say."

"Maybe?" I said sheepishly. "For all I know you would hold my village captive or whatever to make me do whatever you tell me to."

Envy glanced at me, startled, then widely grinned and laughed. "Okay. Fair enough; I take it back that you aren't that smart. But, for the record, I don't really feel like traveling out of Amestris for personal reasons without Father's permission or orders. From the sound of that language, you must be from far away, and I doubt it's that interesting there. It wouldn't be worth it, in the end, just to see some weakling's home."

I raised my eyebrows, amused that Envy was so wrong. He would be very interested in my world, I guessed. But he would probably kill everyone, learn about our even stronger armor and weapons, and destroy both worlds.

Not a very good thought.

"Probably," I said instead, glancing out the window. "Anyways. What are the plans for when we arrive, Soul Partner?"

"What did I say earlier?!" Envy snapped, his decent mood vanishing instantly.

I shrugged, grinning. "You said you would call me what you wanted, and I said I would return that favor… _Soul Partner._ But if you're going to be picky about it, I'll try to call you Envy when we're in front of your siblings._"_

Envy's eye started twitching again, and he scowled. "Don't think this discussion is over."

"Of course not," I agreed, and we both once again fell into silence as we watched the world fly by in whirling colors.

* * *

Somehow, we managed to survive two more days in each other's company. We switched trains once more, and Envy stole me a book to read to 'shut me up.' (For the record, I had insisted we pay, but Envy didn't carry around money for some stupid reason. That, and he was just too conceited to pay humans for his things when he could get away with it… that particular fact somehow hadn't surprised me.) No more incidents between the two of us occurred, but there was understandable tension in the silence. I refused to sleep, having both always wanted to do a successful all-nighter and unwilling to be laughed at again. Wasn't _my_ fault I had weird dreams.

Anyways, we had finally arrived at the destination, a small town surrounded by mountains and rolling hills. The sun had been shining brightly down, and it was hot enough that a human would have been sweating. I was just plain miserable in the heat, having no natural way to cool myself down. (How did homunculi cope like this in the desert?!) It wasn't that bad, though: children had run around the streets, calling out in a cheerful manner. Vendors called out prices for their local foods, and I had been enjoying myself, despite Envy insisting on slinking down alleyways and hiding from the sun and heat like some sort of vampire.

Well, he was pale, didn't sleep, and lived in the bat cave. Maybe I _was_ on to something there.

Despite everything that had happened, though, I had been joking and explaining the concept of a Time Lord to Envy, who wasn't interested in a book (I hadn't wanted to explain TV shows yet.) from my home.

So…

_So please explain to me why had I been killed again?!_

* * *

**Yes. Because cliffhangers are necessary to the story's success. XD**

**Please Read and Review, Envy and Deceit appreciate it! (And me... *coughcough*)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Soul Partners**

**Whoah. I've hit a new record for review numbers this early on in a story. Thanks a bunch you guys, I'm so glad that you are enjoying this story! **

**Sorry that I updated a bit later than usual. Lots of insanity has been happening lately so…. Yeah. XD**

**And this chapter gets a bit darker. It had to happen at some point, after all! Because a fan in this situation wouldn't just adjust instantly like that. I'll try and lighten it up next chapter. ;D**

**I don't own FMA.**

* * *

Envy and I glared at one another, and I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at Envy.

Envy glared right back, eager to go inside and get the mission over with already. "Quit being such a damn pain!"

"I'm not! That house is just screaming _haunted_ to me_._ You can't be serious about going in there!" I objected, glancing back at the house in question. Unlike the cheerful little mountain village a couple minutes back, the paint had started fading to a gray, chips of it even flaking off at parts. Despite the boiling heat, a chill ran up my spine as I looked directly at it, and even the grass had withered up and died around the yard. I had never seen a haunted house outside of movies or TV shows, but if there was one thing I learned from watching Scooby Doo as a kid, it was don't go into creepy, suspicious-looking houses. And this certain house was the very definition of _both_ of those categories.

Envy slapped one hand to his face, and I cringed a little as I felt the sting on my own. "Look here, weakling, the thing _you _should be afraid of is _me_, because I am about to murder you right here and now, got it? Compared to me, the pathetic human in there is _nothing_. Okay? Now get moving or I will _drag _you in there."

"B-but-" I stammered, cringing. "I didn't ever get to practice for this at those fake haunted houses! I'm not prepared.." I trailed off as Envy sighed, shrugged, and promptly tossed me back over his beyond bony shoulder, securing my legs with his arm so I couldn't kick him or roll off. "LET ME DOWN, GOSH DANG IT ALL, I DON'T WANNA GOOOOO! I'M GONNA DIE AGAIN!"

"Stop screaming in my ear!"

"But this is so awkward!" I wailed, trying to escape Envy's iron grip. "This is getting ridiculous! I should just get a sharpie and write 'Deceit's Shoulder' on your arm because of how often this happens! And it's a very bony arm, too! Can't you shape shift into someone with-"

"Shall I just rip out your tongue now~?" Envy asked in a fake sweet voice that made me blanch and snap my pie hole shut. Envy seemed to take my silence as compliance, and we ventured into the house of horror.

"…Hey, Envy?"

"What now." Envy said flatly, prowling around the house and intently listening for any sounds to hint at where the human was hiding.

"I need a pen and paper."

"Why?" Envy asked suspiciously, suddenly leaping up the stairs as I bounced up and down and glared at Envy's back.

"To write my will."

"… What do you even own to write a will for?!"

I frowned, scrunching my eyebrows together in thought. "I have no idea, actually. But if I did write a will, none of it would go to you!"

Envy muttered something under his breath, but I couldn't hear it clearly enough. I shifted a bit, uncomfortable, before sighing. It was strange, to be speaking nothing but Amestrian for four straight days. It seemed so natural, to the point where even my thoughts had started becoming Amestrian in the short time I had been here. It was almost sad, because asides from my strange attire compared to the fashion around here, my home language was all I had left. I didn't want to forget it so easily. Maybe I would speak to myself in English or write a diary in my home language. After all, no one else could understand it so I would be fine writing any secrets on the paper.

Suddenly, a thought struck me just as Envy had prowled through the silent house, ending up on the ground floor and swinging open the door that led to the basement and starting down a flight of steep stone steps. "Crap!"

"What? Do you see him?" Envy asked, tensing.

"No, not that. But one, why are we heading down the creepy stairs of a haunted house, and two, I haven't had Wi-Fi in four and a half days. Do you even comprehend what that means?!" I asked in alarm, my thoughts racing.

Envy didn't reply, so I explained it to him anyways. "It means I'm going to miss the latest… uh, radio broadcasts back home! That means… NOOOOO!"I wailed, causing Envy to shudder slightly in surprise at the sudden explosion of noise. "I'll never know if Luffy becomes the Pirate King or not! What about Clara? I still don't know if she-"

I was rudely cut off by Envy, who suddenly deposited me on the floor so I landed with an undignified thump. "We've arrived," Envy said, his eyes scoring the room we had stepped into. "Now shut up and stay out of the way." A cold smile flickered over his face as he strode across the room, flinging open another door and striding out of sight.

I could only see a little of the alchemy books and vials as well as a picture of a man with his wife in a worn frame before I felt the jerk from my Philosopher's Stone drag me out into the hallway. Stumbling forwards, I followed Envy's trail, passing discarded books and chalked transmutation circles that covered the walls. A very bad feeling was pestering me, and I started acting paranoid as I crept down the lower floor.

"_**I can't believe him**_," I grumbled, peering over my shoulder as Envy's strength dragged my feet forwards. "_**Just leaving me in a creepy hallway all alone… there's something you should never do to-**_"

"STAY BACK!" A voice screamed, cutting into my conversion with myself. The fear in it alone made me freeze, a shiver running up my spine. The tugging sensation had stopped, I realized, and the door in front of me was leaning open, slightly ajar. I closed my eyes, willing myself invisible, but for some reason it wouldn't work. Why Truth had given me a power I couldn't control was beyond me. After a second, I hesitantly cracked the door open just wide enough to slip inside.

Envy was the first thing I saw, a grin stretching across his face. Something about his expression just screamed danger, and anyone who was in their right mind would be terrified of the sin at that moment. (Except the other homunculi who know and work with the creep… no, I'm _not_ included there, I _did_ have nightmares from this one, thank you very much. And Envy saw those, too, since he seemed in a much better mood the day after I woke up from one. Dang it.) "Now, now, Professor," He said calmly, coldly, his movements measured and precise. "Can't you just cooperate? Lust didn't mention you were such a skilled alchemist; if you just come quietly…"

Clinging to the wall, I slipped over to the corner for the room to nervously watch the conversation. I was unsure of what I was doing in here, but I knew that I didn't want to watch someone die. At least this guy's chances looked good at the moment, right? Envy would just capture him to see if he could have a chance at becoming one of the human sacrifices. But what if Envy _didn't_? Would I have to stop him from committing murder? _Could_ I even stop him? After all, what could someone like me do? Politely ask Envy to stop? Threaten to hurt myself? Neither of these attempts seemed to have any chance of success, since I had a slight… _allergy_ to pain and Envy was… Envy. He would see through any bluffs I tried to pull. And… what was I willing to risk for a man I had never heard of? I didn't even know his name.

A quick glance showed that the man was tall, with long brown hair and a scraggly beard. He wore slightly ragged clothes, and he looked disheveled, dried blood on his arm. Had Pride attacked him before he escaped the tunnels? "You're all m-monsters," He stammered, his hands shaking. "W-what are you here for, d-demon? I found your t-tunnels… what the hell is going on, huh?!"

Envy grinned, his pupils dilated and completely at home with the situation. "I'm here to kill you, nosy human," He said, his arm transforming into a knife. "So tell me… how would you like to die? By blade? Or by the hands of someone close to you? You could, of course, just come along quietly. You might live, then, if only for a while."

"You MONSTER!" The man was absolutely terrified. He whipped out a gun that he had apparently been carrying in his pocket, pointing it at Envy. His hands still shook, and even though I had only seen a gun in person a few times, I knew that he had little to no idea on how to aim the weapon.

Now. For those who DON'T know, dear children, a lunatic plus a gun is a VERY bad combination. Alarmed at where this was going, I stepped hesitantly forwards, standing a safe ten feet away from the two of them. "Envy," I said sharply. "Wait… that's not a good way to-"

"You're one of them, too?" The man hissed as he noticed my approach. I opened my mouth to reply, but then the _click_ from the gun made me freeze as the man's eyes skittered around the room to land on me. "Another demon," he said softly, and I knew that something had snapped inside of him, his mentality gone. "This one looks weaker, though. I'm… I'm sorry, demon, but I r-refuse to die!"

"Hey, wait a moment-" I started, but my words died as the gun's nozzle suddenly swung towards me. Envy, who had been glaring at me, realized what was happening a second before me.

"Oh _shit_. Move, idiot!" Envy yelled, and I glanced over at him in confusion as the man pulled the trigger.

Pain blossomed on my right shoulder, and Envy cursed even louder as he grabbed his own shoulder. I shrieked and fell to my knees, writhing in pain, too surprised and shocked to even think about moving out of the way.

"I'll kill you before you can attack me!" The man screamed, and more pain bloomed along my torso. My eyes rolled back, and I bit down on my lip hard enough to draw blood. I tried to roll out of the way, but I was too slow- another bullet shot towards me, striking my chest as my vision warped into a solid black.

The pain remained, however, and after a long second red sparks started lashing across my vision. Once again, I had died.

Great. Just _great_.

I couldn't move for an entire minute, the pain paralyzing my body and a soft groan escaping from my lips. As my vision started to return to spots and flickers, I sat up, rubbing my head as a headache welcomed me back to the dim room.

Envy was leaning over the man, blood spreading out around the body. Envy straightened up, his hand shifting back to his normal hand, free of blood. I felt sick at the sight of the red liquid, and shivered as realization struck me. After another long moment of silence, I spoke.

"Did you…"I trailed off in horror as I stared at the body, eyes wide in shock. I had never seen a dead _body_ before. Wasn't I.. wasn't I supposed to try and prevent this? Couldn't I have somehow stopped this? I covered my mouth with a shaking hand as I tried not to throw up. Seeing this in a television show and in real life was much, much more different than I had realized.

Envy glanced at me for the first time since I had died, his expression murderous. "Why didn't you turn invisible, moron?! You know you're too damn weak to get in the way. That _hurt_, you know!"

"No kidding," I mumbled, but Envy glowered at me for a long moment before he was able to speak again.

"That better not happen again, or you're _dead_. Figure out how to stay out of my way. I don't care how, just do it, got that!?"

For once, I ignored the irony of what Envy had just said. "But… but he didn't have to be killed, Envy!" I said suddenly, looking up to meet Envy's eyes. "He was… he was an alchemist! Wouldn't Father have been interested to at least know his skill before he was disposed off? You didn't have to… to…"

"I was told to kill him, so I did." Envy said bluntly, eyes narrowed. "He's just a human, anyways. There are plenty more to choose from, weakling. Quit worrying about them."

"But… but they aren't that different from us! Especially me!" I objected, standing up and clenching my hands to stop them from shaking.

Envy rolled his eyes, turning his back on me as he walked back into the hallway. "And that one just killed you. Are you really going to whine about what I did? You should be thanking me, _weakling_."

I dug my heels into the ground, but Envy was stronger and weighed much more than me; I was easily dragged forwards, forced to run after Envy. "Jerk."

"Weakling."

"Cross-dressing, psychotic, stupid palm tree!" I muttered, and Envy stopped in his tracks before I felt his hand grab the front of my shirt and slam me against the wall.

"You want to fight?!" Envy snapped, his face shoved into mine. "Because I will kick your ass to next year if you want!"

I glared back, feeling defiant, before glancing away. Envy took this as my answer, and I was dropped to the ground before Envy slammed open the door to the stairway and ascended into shadow.

I trailed after him like a scolded puppy, powerless to do anything else.

Now that I reflected on my decision to try and prevent Envy from killing anyone, it seemed stupid. How could I, a normal, weak girl that hadn't been anything special one week ago, stop Envy, who'd been killing and fighting for hundreds of years?

It seemed hopeless. I angrily swiped at tears that were filling my eyes, unable to stop the hot tears from dripping down my cheeks and making my vision swim. My clothes had regenerated with my skin and tissue; I hadn't counted on that, but it did make a little sense- Envy's and Lust's clothing had survived being burned by Roy, after all. It was convenient, but at that moment I would have preferred just waking up in my bed at home and having this all been a dream.

I felt numb as I stumbled after Envy, out into the hot sunlight and back through the town to the nearest hotel. Everything seemed _off_ now; the kid's shrieks sounded threatening, and the anime aspect to everything made me want to pinch myself until I woke up.

But I wouldn't wake up from this dream. I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried.

I reached a shaking hand up to my face, feeling how real my cool cheek felt. People glanced curiously at us as we walked by, and I tried not to cringe away from their stares. We must have looked weird, I noted miserably, looking at Envy's back as I followed him. Two pale teens with purple eyes, one neither a male nor female while the other dressed in strange clothes not from this time era or world. And I'm crying in public. I… I couldn't stop, though! These tears wouldn't… wouldn't _stop. _But who were they for? Me? My family and friends? That man? I didn't… I didn't know. I didn't know!

"Are you… are you _crying?_" Envy asked in disbelief, having glanced back at my face.

"N-no. I'm just… just fine." I mumbled, trying to shove past the sin into the hotel that was in front of us.

Envy easily caught my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. "Don't tell me you're crying for the human that just killed you." Envy said, eyes searching my face, a disgusted sneer on his face. "Weakling, you're not human. Not anymore. If you break down and start crying every single time this happens, you're going to seriously tick me off."

"S-shut up!" I snapped, using my hoodie sleeve on my free hand to mop up the tears. "I'm allowed to cry! I've lost _everything_, and I'm stuck here with… with _you!_ I just want to be alone right now, but I can't, so just leave me alone for now, got it?!"

Envy raised an eyebrow, and I noticed in a flash of anger that he was actually wearing a hint of a satisfied grin, as if seeing me in this pain was amusing. "Like I want to be stuck with you, too," Envy said eventually, rolling his eyes. "We're making a scene. Let's-"

"That's your fault," I interrupted, but Envy ignored me and continued talking.

"-go and get two rooms for the night." He finished, releasing my wrist and pushing the doors to the building open. "No trains were running today, so we might as well stay here."

"…You have money on you after all?! Wha- why didn't you pay for my book, then?" I managed to say after a moment, knowing that I couldn't go and sulk in peace and quiet like normal.

Envy shrugged, and we got two rooms that were connected together through a door. Even though I no longer needed to sleep, I was mentally exhausted and didn't feel like talking. Without waiting for Envy to go into his room, I ran into mine and leaped into my bed. I blinked, shivering a little. It was freezing in the hotel, opposed to the heat outside. After a moment, I fell asleep, tears still leaking out of my eyes.

* * *

My dreams that night had mainly been bursts of emotion; I could vaguely recall running through a stone maze while filled with absolute terror and fear. When I was jolted awake, panting and nervous, I blinked open my eyes as I slowly recognized the sunlight that was starting to seep into the room, the sun only having just come up.

I groaned, rolling over onto my other side as I pulled the covers closer. I didn't want to get up yet. I didn't think anything could entice me to get out of bed…

But I was dead wrong there.

Sleeping next to me (yes, in the same freaking _bed_) was none other than Envy, whose spiky hair poked out from under the covers.

To say that I screamed like a little girl and lunged out of bed like it was on fire was an understatement, that was for sure.

"Whaaaa-? Deceit, shut up," mumbled Envy, cracking open his amethyst eyes. "The train doesn't leave until noon, and _some_ people are trying to actually sleep."

"B-but… I-I… ENVY!" I said as my face slowly started turning bright red, the shock making me forget how upset I had been the night before. "You… what are you even _doing_ in here?!"

"The bed was too far away in the other room for us to sleep in different ones," Envy said sleepily, not paying much attention to me. "And if I had woken you up, you would have whined and made a nuisance of yourself like usual, especially after that little breakdown you had yesterday. Don't think that _I_ was willing to be cold just so you could have a bed all to yourself, this one was plenty big. Now let me sleep."

"…" I stared at him with a disgusted expression on my face as his eyes closed, realizing I was still awkwardly flopped on to the floor. "I'm scarred. For _life_," I emphasized, and Envy grunted, too high and mighty to answer. "You don't even need to sleep!"

"I paid for the rooms, might as well enjoy the bed."

My face turned even redder as I shuddered. "That… that can be taken in such a wrong way it's not even funny."

"What?" Envy asked, opening his eyes again. "Did you say something?"

"No!"

"What was it? What did you say?"

"N-nothing," I stammered, glancing away. "Go back to sleep, already. I'm still mad at you."

"I'm honored that you feel so strongly about me," Envy drawled, yawning. "You wouldn't be unwilling to tell me what you said if it was 'nothing.' So what was it?"

"Stop pressing me!"

"I will once you tell me what you said," Envy said flatly, and I scowled before grinning evilly.

"I called you a palm tree," I said, shrugging nonchalantly, easily lying. "Happy now?"

"YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Like I haven't heard that one before!" I yelled, racing into what had originally been Envy's room and slamming the door shut before Envy could muster the strength to get out of bed. "Jerk," I added, feeling oddly better for insulting Envy.

I closed my eyes, sighing. What would happen next time Envy killed someone? Would I just stay out of the way?

...Wait.

My eyes flew open, and I gasped. _**"Hughes,"**_ I whispered, a shiver running up my spine. "_**Doesn't he die in about two weeks from now? No. No, no, no! I have to be wrong. I have to be!"**_

With that realization, I suddenly understood. Next time Envy killed, it was more than likely that it would not only be someone I felt like I had known, truly known, with a family and a little kid, but would also eventually be the cause of how Envy died.

And if Envy died….

…_. So would I._

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**Please Review! Thanks for reading~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Soul Partners**

**Okay, I took a while to write this chapter. Sorry, I was watching Attack on Titan after multiple people suggested it to me… it's very hard to stop watching that show once you start. XD **

**Plus, my life was still very busy and stuff. Yeah. ._.**

**Ah, also, this is more based off of the manga than the Brotherhood anime. It's mostly the same thing though, so I wouldn't really count on that changing anything that much except where I check to make sure I'm getting the amount of time passing and stuff right. So just consider it a mix of the two… same plot, though, so whatever.**

**Please don't mention how TERRIBLE I am at knowing what goes in in a military. XD I was doing some guessing there, pffft.**

**On another note, some of you guys seemed really shocked at the realization that Deceit is probably going to die last chapter, hehe. Well, some of you guys asked, so here's my reply: yes. Deceit will die a terrible death without accomplishing anything. The end. (Not really, I'm just teasing. Spoilers, people! ;D)**

* * *

"You've been quiet," Envy observed, resting his chin on his hands. "Not that I'm complaining, it's just weird."

"That… is… because… I've been reading your mind." I said slowly, blinking as I tore my eyes away from the scenery. The train rumbled to a halt, and a conductor called out our designation. It seemed that, on my ninth day in Amestris, I was back in Central. Rain was starting to splatter across the windows, and Envy stood up, stretching his hands over his head.

"As if," he scoffed, stepping off the train. His bare (besides his weird sock-things) feet splashed into a muddy puddle, and he yanked his foot back with a hiss. "Erghh. Gross."

"It's just mud," I said, stepping around the puddle. "Don't you live in a sewer? That's much more disgusting."

"_We_." Envy corrected, and I blinked, surprised that he was including me in his little group. On one hand, it was kind of cool that I was with a gang of bad guys from my favorite show. However, on the other hand…

"I don't belong in your little Ouroboros gang," I informed Envy while sticking my tongue out at him. "You're all villains who took over the bat cave, kicking out the good guy."

"There never was a good guy living in the sewers." Envy replied, not denying the villains comment. "Besides, are you sure you don't have a tattoo? Have you looked?"

"Well… no." I admitted, sheepishly rubbing my head. "But still. I'm not insane, so I don't belong in your weird sibling group. Or is it house? 'Cause you've got a dad and the seven siblings…"

"…" Envy stared at me, his face skeptical. After a moment of silence, I shrugged.

"Okay, maybe I'm a _little_ insane."

"Really."

"Okay, maybe a bit more."

"Uh huuuuh."

I sighed, narrowing my eyes at Envy. "…this is where I need someone who I ask 'Am I mad?' and they would go 'I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.'" I examined my feet for a moment, and then spoke again. "At least I don't smile when trying to kill someone."

Envy raised an eyebrow, ignoring my reference outburst. "I never said I wasn't insane. I'm just saying it takes one to know one."

"…hold on… let me… let me think up a really good comeback to that." I said, unable to come up with anything to say.

"Why do you need a comeback, again? You know I'm right." Envy asked, placing a hand on his hip.

I stared at him blankly for a moment, and then frowned. "Because then I would lose."

"Lose what?"

"…I'm not sure. The Sarcastic Remarks and Comeback Wars?"

Envy stared at me with a weirded out expression, and I managed to smile at the killer. He shook his head, then started heading towards the alleyways at the heart of Central. "Whatever. Let's just get out of this rain, I can't see in this downpour."

"Okay." I said, falling silent. As we walked down the streets, I started hearing snippets of conversations scattered around the streets.

"….attack again in the East, almost…."

"I'm not kidding, it was-"

"….burned down to the ground…"

"Mommy, I'm worried!"

"Did something happen?" I asked nervously, walking faster to catch up with Envy. "It sounds like there was an attack out east wh-"

"It's probably that annoying Ishvalen again," Envy said without looking back. "I was told that he had killed an alchemist over there a short while ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was causing us trouble already."

I blinked, and then remembered. "Scar? Oh." What had happened around this time in the show again...? Well, if an alchemist had died and Envy had heard of it, that must be Tucker… and right after Tucker was the attack on… Ed. Dang it, that was probably it.

So I had three days in Resembool, right? And five days for them to get a copy of the research notes… another week of decoding… but I forgot transportation in between. That gave me more time than I had originally thought!

I let out a relieved sigh, and Envy pushed open the door that led down to the sewers, advancing into the depths of Central.

"Hey… Envy, I-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Bu… whaaaaat? I didn't say anything yet!" I muttered indignantly, trying to step on Envy's heels to prove my annoyance. "You should listen when people talk, I might have something very important to say."

"You?" Envy said, stopping abruptly enough that I managed to crash into his back. He glanced back at me, a smirk appearing on his face. "As if."

"…OFFENDED HERE! You don't even deserve my brilliant comments, you know that?"

"Good, I guess I don't deserve them then. Does that mean you'll shut up?" Envy asked, walking forwards again.

I glared at Envy's back, and then focused my attention on avoiding the bones that littered the floor. Despite the prickling sensation on the back of my neck, I refused to look up at the guards. I was with Envy… they wouldn't eat me, right?

_Right?_

I really didn't want to test that. The only noises that could be heard was our footsteps and the sound of dripping water, and I sighed, tired.

Then a growl ripped through the air.

Of _course_ that freaked me out a little. I started walking faster, suddenly nervous. Please don't come after me, you don't see me, you don't see me, you don't see me… I stumbled on a bone, letting out a very loud shriek. I crashed to the ground, scraping my hands, knees, and forehead in the process. I groaned as my scrapes started healing, and Envy stopped walking.

"Oh, great. So you're a klutz, too." Envy said unhelpfully, then tilted his head up and laughed. "The guards only attacked a stray rat that had wandered too far from its hole, weakling. Don't worry; I won't let them kill you. That honor belongs to _me_."

"Great. I'm absolutely _enthralled_. Excuse me for that unbecoming yodel, by the way."

Envy rolled his eyes, still oblivious to my attempts at references. (why couldn't I have access to a computer or something to fix this horror?!) "So, remind me, why are you invisible _now?_ I thought you had insisted you couldn't figure out how to-"

I interrupted him with an excited squeal. "I'm what?! Really? What, how, when… Oh, you're right! I can't see my hands! That's still really freaky. Uhm… why do you look like you're up to something? Envy?"

Envy kept smirking, crossing his arms. "If you can't control when you turn invisible but can decide when to turn back," he said slowly, looking satisfied. "Why don't you just stay invisible permanently?"

I blinked, staring at Envy before realizing he couldn't see my confused look. "That's so boring, though! You can't see me at all, and I'll probably trip all over the place!"

"Better now than when I'm busy," Envy said, unfolding his arms again and entering the narrow hallway that led to Father's throne room. "Now hurry up; I'm exhausted."

"You poor baby," I muttered, hesitating for a second before following. I remained invisible, if _only_ 'cause I needed the practice with my power and could need it later.

No one was in the throne room when we entered except a scribbled note for Envy. Peering over his shoulder, I noted the very curly handwriting and guessed it was Lust's.

_Envy,_

_Wrath can explain what's going on and tell you of any mission updates. Gluttony and I are busy in East City._

"She doesn't say very much, does she?" I asked, and Envy shrugged.

"She doesn't need to, she told me where I can get the information and that's all that needs to be said."

"Huuuuuuh. That's annoying, couldn't she just say?" I muttered, realizing we would probably have to go all the way up to Wrath's office. In military headquarters.

Greeaaaaaat.

"No." Envy looked around, his eyes searching for me before he realized I was still invisible. I pictured myself again, allowing the illusion to fade away just as Envy's eyes narrowed. "Why did you turn back?!"

"'Cause it felt weird with you looking away from me when I spoke."

"Weakling! I needed you to be invisible for this!" Envy growled, and I sheepishly shrugged.

"Oops? Tell you what; get me a wig and I'll be all set." I said with a grin, and Envy rolled his eyes before he stomped down a side hallway and stopped in front of a door.

"Don't touch anything," he said irritably, pushing it open and entering. Confused, I followed him and curiously glanced around the room. There were three sets of bunk beds, all without a single wrinkle in the pristine sheets besides one of them in the top corner, the sheets kicked about. A simple table and couch were in the corner of the room, and Envy pulled open a closet to look for something.

"Is this… the homunculi's room?" I asked curiously, unable to stop staring. "I didn't expect you guys to share a room… or have a room…"

"Where do you think we sleep while in Central?" Envy said irritably, poking his head out from the closet at me.

"…in a box on the street." I answered, shrugging helplessly as Envy groaned in exasperation.

"Here, go put this on," He said, tossing a wad of blue clothes at me. I glanced down at them in surprise before realizing that it was a military uniform.

"Why do you have this?"

"Lust needed to use it once."

"…ah." I awkwardly entered the rather large bathroom Envy pointed out that was across the closet, fumbling with the zipper of my hoodie. As I changed, I noticed my reflection in the mirror, and remembered Envy's question about an Ouroboros tattoo. Quickly scanning myself, I was unable to spot one before I twisted around and saw it, located smack dab between my shoulder blades. "It's _there?_" I said in disbelief, sighing. Oh well. At least no one would notice it now. What a random spot, though.

I finished fumbling with the buttons of the uniform, pulling my hair up into a ponytail with a random rubber band I had found in my pocket. As a last attempt, I tried picturing my eyes as a light green. I had always wanted green eyes, and the amethyst eyes were a dead give away of a homunculus. To my astonishment, it worked much easier than the palm tree illusion I had tried a few days ago.

It seemed the brain was more willing to accept concealment than creation, since all I had done was change how people perceived my eye color. Oh well, I could work with that.

I slammed the door open, bouncing out. Envy, who had been leaning against the wall, had transformed into that typical officer he seemed to like changing into. We stared at each other for a moment, and I started snickering.

"What?!" Envy snapped, and I started laughing even louder.

"You d-don't want to know." I said between laughs, but obliged Envy when he shot me the stink-eye. "Okay, fine, I just realized you actually looked like a dude for once," I admitted, and Envy's eyebrows shot up.

"You… you just can't seem to shut up, can you."

"Nope."

"Well, you don't even look old enough to be in the military!"

"So? Just tell your pals to make me an orphaned kid that was allowed to be entered into military school early or something, duh."

Envy stared at me, a mix of disgust and scorn written all over his face. "Let's just get in the elevator and get this over with," he finally said, probably resigning himself to bear with it until he could beat me up in his spare time.

Speaking of which.

"You haven't kept your promise," I said as I followed him into an old-style elevator. The doors slid shut with a ding, and the floor lurched upwards. "About giving me more fighting lessons. Can someone else just do it?"

"No one, including me, has time for you, weakling. So you're stuck with me since it's impossible for me to be productive with you around." Envy sighed, leaning against the wall as he stared fixedly at the doors. They finally slid back open, and I trailed after Envy as we stepped into military headquarters.

Adults, mostly men, all wearing the matching blue uniforms rushed back and forth down the halls, barely having time to spare us a second glance. Envy started confidently moving down the halls, with a familiarity that made me suspicious that he lurked here on his days off. He finally turned and faced two large doors, jerking his chin towards the door at me before knocking and pushing the heavy doors open.

"Ah, Envy," a voice said as I cautiously followed, turning and pulling the doors shut before facing the two homunculi I was alone with. Fueror Bradley, aka Wrath, was what I had braced myself for: a kindly looking man (haha, no) with dark, short hair and an eye-patch covering one eye. The remaining eye was a gray-green, and he wore another uniform. "So. You're the Deceit I've heard so much about," Wrath continued calmly, and I hesitantly followed Envy to plop into one of the seats facing Wrath.

"That's right…" I said meekly, and Envy snorted.

"So what, you're meek with Father and Wrath but not me?" He muttered, and I glared at him.

"That's right. That's 'cause you look my age and… you know what I'm going to say there, no need to repeat myself. Besides, you're actually fun to annoy."

"Why you _little_…!"

Wrath coughed, and Envy fell silent, although he kept glaring at me. "So? Where's Father?"

"He's holding a meeting in the other room with the commanding officers," Wrath said, unfazed. "My presence was not required there." He turned his gaze back to me, and I shivered as his gaze sharpened and a cold eye seemed to glare all the way into my freaking soul. Man, was he creepy when he was serious. "So. I have a form for you to sign as a cover for you walking around here in that uniform, Deceit. I still need a human name, but since you have such a strange backstory I've gone ahead and made a new one up for you."

"Ah… okay. It's… you can use Cynthia Smith." I replied, suddenly acutely aware that I was talking to the president of this country. Okay, yeah, he was evil, but still. He was the _president._ Was that not a little cool?

"Very good. Then here, sign this." Wrath slid a file over to me, and I took a moment to look it over. I had been born in Amestris, close to the Creta border with a Cretan mother and an Amestrian father, which was how my strange accent developed. They were both killed in a battle between the two, and I was admitted early to military school because the orphanage had run low of room and needed to use my room. That was pretty similar to what Envy and I had talked about and seemed believable, so I signed it and slid it back. Bradley stamped it as official, and put it back in his desk.

"Excellent. Now then, Envy," he examined the false officer, and glanced back at me. Envy understood immediately, and also turned to casually glance at me.

"Hey, weakling," he said, pointing at the door. "Go stand out there until we're done talking, got it? And don't you _dare_ try anything funny, or else."

I glared back before realizing that Wrath was expectantly waiting, which made it all even more awkward. "Uh… fine. See ya, Melonlord," I said to Bradley, attempting to switch back to my casual banter before standing up and stepping back outside. I heard Wrath ask about the strange comment and Envy mutter something back, but I didn't catch the exact wording besides 'some weird book that the weakling had probably read.' Like Envy knew what Avatar was. In my defense, the fact that a bad guy gave people melons reminded me of Toph's entire 'Melonlord' rampage. And both of them were rude, anyways, asking someone to go outside all by their self. What could Wrath say to Envy that I couldn't hear? Probably something about the Promised Day. Whatever.

I couldn't go far from the door at all, since Envy was already halfway into the Fueher's room. I leaned against the wall, watching people walk by for a moment before I glanced down and studied the boots I was currently wearing. They were too big, and I was worried about getting a blister… or, since I would just heal myself instantly, tripping and falling on my face.

Lost in thought, I didn't hear the man walk up to me until he spoke. "Excuse me," he said stopping beside me. "Are you new here? You look young for this line of work."

"That's right," I said instantly, looking up. "I'm Cy- uhhhh…"

"What's wrong?" _Roy Freaking Mustang_ asked, glancing over his shoulder. 'You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong," I said quickly, shaking myself out of the shock of meeting such a main character that was actually a good guy out here in the open. Part of me really wanted to throw myself at Roy, crying tears of happiness at meeting someone _not _absolutely insane or evil for once that I actually knew. But then Envy would kill both of us, so that was ruled out. "Are you by any chance the Flame Alchemist? Colonel Roy Mustang?"

Roy smirked, running a hand through his black hair. "That's right. Impressive that you know me just by seeing my face, though. By the way, it's pronounce 'Ker-nel,' not 'Call-on-all.'"

"Oh. Oops." I tried not to blush, cursing the fact that I mispronounced something that I should have known. And _no_, don't get me wrong, that's the _only_ reason I blushed. Roy is way too angsty and old for my tastes, thank you very much. He'd be cool as a dad, though. "I'm Scout Cynthia," I said instead, making the 'L' shape with my thumb and pointer fingers before saluting with my right hand. (Yes, I still needed to check which was which, don't judge.)

"Nice to meet you," Roy said politely, although he looked interested. "Scout, huh? That's an unusual rank for someone. Are you being deployed for a war this early on?"

"N-no. I'm a Scout so I can travel around Amestris and report any problems back to Central," I lied, suddenly interested in my large boots again.

Roy tilted his head to the side, studying me. "Hmmm. That reminds me of a certain boy I know," he muttered, and then smiled. "Where are you from? That's an interesting accent."

"Ah... I was born in Amestris, but my... my mom was Cretan."

"I see." Roy said, tilting his head to the side as he considered me. "Well, maybe I can ask for you to be added to my company, then. Are you waiting for someone to assign you to a team? I can go in with you, I have a little time."

I felt myself brighten, and then I sighed. Oh wait, despite this amazing fortune (I mean seriously, wouldn't being in Mustang's little family be so much fun?) I had Envy to worry about.

Speaking of which.

The doors behind us slammed open, and Envy strolled out, still disguised as an officer. "Hey, weakling, I need to… what are you doing?!" He asked, blinking at the sight of Roy. To his credit, he recovered quickly, sending me a 'this is all your fault' scowl, and I shrugged. "Colonel Mustang, sir!" He managed to say, although his body had stiffened and he looked disgusted with himself. "I'm sorry, did this girl cause you trouble? She's new, I was just about to-"

"It's fine," Roy said, waving Envy's attempt to cover us away. "I was the one that talked to her first, actually. Does she have her assignment yet? I'd be willing to take her into my company."

"That's not…. Necessary…" Envy started, shooting me another dirty look. Hey, this wasn't my fault for once!

Suddenly, I blinked. Waiiiit. Wasn't Roy supposed to be in Eastern City? What the heck?!

It was Ed and Al in Central at this time, right? Or in a few days, at least. I recalled the discussion I had heard on the street about something burning? Could that be the first branch? I nervously bit my lip, staring at Roy thoughtfully.

Footsteps approached, and I turned to see Riza, her face stern. As I tried not to go into fangirl mode over meeting such an awesome character, the blonde woman whispered something to Roy. "All right, I understand. I'll see you around, Scout." Roy said to me, smirking and nodding to Envy. "I'll be in Eastern City if you need me."

"O-okay. Why did you come to Central, though, Colonel?" I asked, tearing my gaze away from Riza, who was staring expressionlessly back at me.

"I needed files on the state alchemist killer, the man by the name of Scar," Roy said, sighing. "He's wrecking havoc in the east. Almost killed one of my subordinates as well. Just my luck, though, the files were lost in the fire."

"Oh. Good luck with that." I said awkwardly said, wondering if I should mention Sheska. No, Ed and Al needed her help now. But the fact that Roy was still here bothered me. Was the storyline not set in stone here? That could be both great and terrible at once. It proved I could change Envy's and Hughes's deaths, but it also meant that the storyline could change in ways I didn't expect. "See ya around."

Envy and I watched the two walk away, and then Envy turned to me, an eyebrow raised. "What did I say about trying something funny?"

"Uh… don't try it?"

Envy rolled his eyes. "Yes! So why did you start talking to one of the potential human sacrifices and try to get him to help you like that?!"

I opened my mouth before shutting it and thinking about what I should know according to my cover story before talking again. "Human sacrifice? Colonel Mustang? I don't think he's the type that would try a human transmutation, Envy."

"He's a human. There are ways," Envy said, glancing in the direction Roy had gone. "That woman that follows him around, for one. What do you think would happen if she suddenly, let's say, died?"

"He would hunt you down and kill you a million times over." I deadpanned, and then sighed. "Come on, Envy, he was the one that started talking to _me_. What was I supposed to say?"

"That you were busy!"

"Busy, huh? Oh yeaaaah, leaning against a wall and waiting on you is a _very _busy job."

Envy glared at me, clearly not appreciating the sarcasm. After a moment of awkward silence, he scowled. "Fine. Now let's go, we have to go make sure everything is in order at a one of our facilities."

"Why us? We aren't errand boys," I complained. "Or girls. Can't we sleep or just relax and read a book for once?"

"That's all we did for four straight days on a train, weakling. Just stop whining and let's go."

"But my feet huuuurt." I tried, and Envy groaned as we started making our way back to the elevator.

"That's funny, mine don't hurt at all."

"….dang it." I sighed, and then sped up my strides to walk next to Envy. "So where are we going?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"We're soul partners. I should be allowed in on this at least!" I said, pouting.

Envy turned and stared at me, apparently trying to make me back down. Of course, I stared right back, until he finally gave in. "If I tell you, will you be silent the entire time we're there?" He asked suspiciously, and I grinned, giving him a thumb up.

"Fine. We're going a place called Lab Five." Envy said, hitting the elevator's button.

"…WHAT?!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Soul Partners**

**OKAY GUYS. I need to get sentimental for one second here.**

**Yes, I know, ughhhhh.**

**IT NEEDS TO BE DONE, OKAY. XD**

**So, anywaaaaays, I am amazed at how many of you are commenting and favoriting and whatever the heck you do while reading stories (I myself giggle and talk to myself when reading fanfiction, but that… that might just be me. XD). I truly am shocked at this, because this story isn't as complex and whatnot as some of my other ideas. In fact, the longest decision was to actually post this **_**thing**_** I had suddenly written at first. True story! I didn't think anyone would like this or anything, and owe you guys a huuuuge thanks! :D**

**I also took the crack warning down from the summary, because this was crack from the expectation that no one would like it enough to take it seriously, pffft.**

**So yeah. NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY….**

**Enjoy the newest chapter!**

**I don't own FMA.**

* * *

Why I even wondered why life just seemed to hate me at this point still remained unknown.

I mean, I must have done _something_ to deserve this, right?

…

…...

"_**I am so, so sorry for not completing my homework that Thursday two weeks ago," **_I groaned. _**"And for lying about who ate the last piece of cake… and for stealing Truth's favorite line… Wait a minute….that must have been it, this is all Truth's idea of punishment!"**_My eyes widened at this latest idea, and I could have slapped myself. Of course! STealing Truth's line must have been what I did wrong! IT ALL SUDDENLY MADE SENSE!

"When I say you have to be silent, I mean _silent._" Envy suddenly clarified, glowering at me. "And while we're at it, stop talking to yourself in that stupid language, it ticks me off!"

"B-But Envyyyy. We're not there yeeeeet." I whined, glancing nervously around at the streets as the people passed by, completely unaware of the two homunculi in their midst. We were almost there.

There being the supposedly 'closed' lab.

I did not, I repeat, did _not _want to go to Lab Five yet. Didn't I have a week and a half before Edward and Alphonse arrived in Central? Lust wasn't here yet, either.

"So… Lab Five, huh?" I asked nervously, running a hand through my ponytail. "Is Lust meeting us there?"

"No. She'll be back here in a few days, but she and Gluttony are busy right now," Envy said curtly, keeping his eyes forwards. "Now, shut it."

I stared at Envy. "Hey… are you ever…. I don't know, nice?"

"No. Got a problem with that?"

"Well, actually I-"

"DON'T ANSWER THAT!" Envy cut in, realizing his mistake from past experiences.

I held up my hands innocently, and we turned the corner. It didn't escape my notice that the sun was starting to set. Even Wrath would get to go home at this hour, but noooo, he just _had_ to send us to another haunted house. When it was people with costumes, it was kind of fun. In this world? Heck no.

A guard was waiting for us in front of the large fence, topped with forbidding barbed wire. He saluted as Envy walked by, not even bothering to ask our names or business. It kind of made me feel important, but since I was only receiving this kind of attention because I was trapped with Envy… I could have gone without it, honestly.

It turned out that there was a key to open the main door after all. Envy, however, just turned his finger into the key and stuck it in the lock. "Lazy," I muttered, and Envy stepped on my toes in response.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" I yowled, trying to yank my foot out from under his much heavier foot and failing miserably. Instead, I ended up falling and flopping awkwardly around on the ground, unable to achieve my goal. "Envy! You weigh like, 400 pounds you… you big, mean, stupid fatty! GET OFF!"

"Is that sad insult the best you can come up with?" Envy snickered, casually brushing lint off of his military uniform.

"When in pain… can't… think straight!" I protested. "Ennnnvy, I'll… I'll cuss! Really badly!"

"Ooooh, the absolute _horror_." Envy said, eyebrows raised. "Are you going to give me a speech on washing my hands, too?"

"W-well, that depends… Do you even know what washing your hands is?" I groaned, deciding that my foot was crushed probably flat. "Doesn't this hurt you? At all?"

"I can feel it, so what?"

"SO YOU SHOULD WANT TO GET RID OF THIS PAIN AND GET OFF ALREADY!"

"…nah."

I moaned, cringing as I noticed blood on my leg. "Okay, I get the message, no comments now that we're here, promise! Pinkie promise!" I stuck out the offered digit, and Envy stared at me for a moment.

"…I'm good there." He finally said, although he lifted his foot and let me painfully get up and limp after him as I healed. He pulled open the thick door, and we stepped into Lab Five.

To keep from freaking out, I resisted the urge to grab Envy's hand and focused on my breath instead. I would never live it down if I asked to hold his hand, that was for sure. "Can I ask one more question?"

"_What is it_?" Envy growled, and I shrugged.

"Why don't you just carry around keys?"

Envy spread his arms, out, scowling at me. "Does this outfit look like it comes with pockets to you? Because it doesn't. And when I just broke the door and entered, you would not _believe_ what it's like to get a 'responsibility' speech from your younger brother. He doesn't even look half my age!" Envy ranted, sounding disgusted. "I even started just turning into a snake to get in, but someone almost killed me once."

I tried to imagine that scene, snickering as I saw Envy turn and glare at me. "You killed him for that, didn't you."

"…no." Envy muttered, annoyance dancing across his face. "He was scheduled to be used as an ingredient the next day, anyways. I wasn't 'allowed' to kill him."

"An ingredient?" Was I supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stones, again? Well, since I _was_ a homunculus, it would make sense. "But the only thing that uses that is… are they making red stones here?"

"Again. Silent." Envy said, scowling at me and not answering. I scowled right back, but knew he was done talking to me. We threaded our way through dark, dimly lit hallways, cobwebs in the corners. All was silent except for the drip of water and a soft click. Envy stopped at this noise, reaching back to grab the back of my uniform and tossing me over his shoulder before rolling out of the way as bullets rained down right where I had been standing.

"Klutz," he muttered again, and I groaned, allowing myself to be carried like a sack of potatoes.

"Not my fault I didn't know where the traps were located!"

"You're talking again."

"But you started talking to me first."

Envy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a threat on my life. Oh, like I _didn't _see that coming! NOT.

Once again we settled into silence, and then I started to hear it.

Screams.

They echoed faintly from ahead before abruptly cutting off. A few moments passed, and then new screams started, echoing and echoing and echoing and _echoing_.

I hadn't realized I had clamped my hands over my ears tight enough that my fingernails had started to make blood drip down my face until Envy reached back, yanking one hand away from my head so I could hear him.

"Hey… you're hurting yourself, idiot. Stop that, it hurts."

Ladies and gentleman, I think Envy just said the most inspirational and beautiful speech I had _ever_ heard.

The screaming had stopped, and I let me hands drop, the blood staying on my hands as my skin healed. I examined the blood, wiggling my fingers for a moment before wiping it off on Envy's military uniform.

He liked blood so much, then he can do me a favor since he just shape shifted in and out of his forms. Instant cleaning, right?

"Oh… it's you," a metallic voice said, and I twisted over Envy's shoulder to see a suit of armor step out of the shadows. He wasn't very tall, wearing a skull-like helmet with a white mane of fur going down the back of it. A knife was tightly clutched in one hand, and he tilted his head, red eyes staring at me. Barry the Chopper. "Hey, you normally come with that other lady… who's this?"

"No one important," Envy said, suddenly shoving me off his shoulder face-first.

"Oh. Can I chop her up?" Barry asked, stepping towards me.

Envy made a disgusted noise. "No." He pushed past the empty suit of armor, and I scrambled to my feet.

"Hey, sweetheart, so what are you doing here?" Barry asked curiously, hovering beside me as I took a deep breath, hurrying after Envy.

"I just go wherever the guy in front of me does," I said awkwardly, unaware of what Envy's fake name as an official was. It was kind of creepy to talk to Barry; his voice rang out, and the eyes looked even more unsettling than Envy's did in real life. Hadn't he killed twenty-three people or so?

Well Envy had killed a fair share himself, so I didn't really need to freak out about that, right? Yet my worried mind wouldn't let the details of my latest company members seem normal; the word murderers bounced around in my head, loud and demanding to be acknowledged.

_Murderers._

Barry stood back in the hallway as I glanced around the large sandy-colored room; about five men in white coats and seven men in military uniforms stood guard, Envy talking to one of the military personnel. A small pedestal stood in the middle of the room, designs carved into the floor around it. Candles flickered from their fixed places in tall columns.

I slipped over to stand next to Envy, who was watching something. I turned to look as well, noticing two more military personal lead out people with chains on their feet and wrists, gray-green jumpsuits the only thing that the vast selection of people shared in common. Some glanced around with fear; others kept their eyes fixed forwards, shoulders slumped in defeat. They were led to different points of the design, where their chains were fastened to the ground.

_Murderers._

I drew in a breath, glancing out of the corner of my eye at Envy. He merely watched the prisoners curiously, like he was watching a beetle walk across the floor. A smirk tugged at his lips, and I backed away from him, from the circle, and from the uneasy tension in the air. One of the men in a white coat came forwards, placing both hands on the human transmutation circle- for there could be no mistake, no doubt in what the strange patterns were- and once more, the screaming began.

It began and it wouldn't _stop._ The prisoners collapsed, some struggling to remain on their knees while others just limply collapsed, blood splattering the floor across the circle as a few clawed at their throats. I wanted to look away, to hide behind Envy and pretend it wasn't real, but it _was,_ I could see the prisoner's eyes roll back in their heads as, one by one, they started to collapse.

Red energy, not unlike their blood, swirled on to the pedestal, collecting into a small orb that winked and glittered, perfect in every way. The Philosopher's Stone… so this was it… what I was made out of… what could make someone powerful enough to have unimaginable power.

It made me feel sick to look at it.

I glanced back at Envy, clenching my shaking hands. His expression hadn't really changed, and the man he had been talking to smiled and laughed, unmoved by the carnage before us. "Yeah, the new batch are getting really good at their work," he said easily, nodding at the stone as a scientist retrieved it, setting it in a pile of about thirteen other stones. A pile… how many people were in that pile, had _died_ to make that pile? I didn't know. I didn't _want_ to know.

"You're right," Envy said, smirking. "But we no longer have much need for this place. Order all researchers used as resources in tomorrow morning and send the Philosopher's Stones to Central command."

"Yes, sir. Of course." There was no hesitation, nothing more than a blink at the order. A bad taste returned to my mouth, and I averted my eyes at last.

_Murderers._

* * *

"Watch."

"I don't want to."

"Watch."

"I don't want to!"

"_Watch."_

"_No!"_

Envy's eyes narrowed at me, reaching a blood-coated hand out to me, dropping something into my hands. "But you won't learn how to kill humans if you don't watch," he coaxed, frowning. I shook my head, and he scowled, annoyed. Then Envy did something strange: he smiled. "Oh. I get it. Well, if you didn't want to watch, you could have just said so. I won't kill anyone else for today."

I eyed him nervously, relaxing a little. "Really? You won't kill anyone else?"

"Really. Because…"

A gun. A gun that dripped red beads of liquid on to my hands, staining the skin.

"…_you will for me."_

_**No!**_

* * *

_Bang!_

"Augh!" I grabbed my head, cradling it in my hands as I panted, frantically glancing around. Bunk beds. The sheets I had been sleeping in were kicked about, all dumped on the floor. I heard the bed creak next to me, and I rolled on to my side as I checked if Envy had been awake to see my nightmare. No, he was asleep; his chest slowly rose and fell, his eyes flickered underneath the eyelids.

I rolled back on to my back, my jeans feeling scratchy. I didn't want to wear the too big uniform anymore, and I didn't have any pajamas. So here I was, stuck in a t-shirt and jeans. I wish I had been wearing sweat pants or something more comfortable. I reached behind me to find my glasses and hoodie, slipping them back on. I hadn't had a toothbrush or my retainer on me, but at this point I wasn't sure if it mattered. Cavities would heal instantly (or at least I hoped so), and I still wasn't sure if I would grow anymore, so maybe I didn't need a retainer anymore. Whatever, like I could do anything about those things now.

I didn't hear any birds or anything outside, but maybe that was because how deep underground we were. I looked around the plain room, lost in thought. _**"Ten days since I came here…"**_

I didn't know why I was keeping count anymore. I just did, like I was counting how many days I was losing. That reminded me of an anime I had once seen called Sword Art Online, where one character was fighting so hard to get home while the other one just enjoyed the days he had been given in the other world… I sighed, running a hand through my tangled hair. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about anime, even if I _was_ in one.

The door opened and I straightened up, making sure not to hit my head again. Lust walked in, followed by Gluttony. She glanced over at Envy's bed before smiling. "Still sleeping at this hour?" She teased.

"Shut up. I hate getting up early, you now that. Besides, unlike someone, I don't sleep that often." Envy growled, apparently awake now. He stuffed his head under the pillow, green hair still poking out in different directions.

"This feels like the weirdest sleep over I have _ever_ attended," I muttered, shaking my head and rolling out of bed before landing on the floor. "So what's going on, Lust? I thought you just arrived in East City."

"Deceit," Lust acknowledged, nodding at me while Gluttony sucked his finger as he peered at me. "East City didn't take long. Gluttony managed to find Scar almost as soon as I arrived."

"Oh. Did he get… eaten?" I asked, frowning. If Roy was here while this happened, who was looking for Scar? This small problem was seriously giving me a headache… whatever. I should just act like nothing would go as the show had besides the major plot twists.

"No. He got away, but he should be out of the way for a good while," Lust said, frowning.

Envy sat up, annoyance written across his face. I could almost _see_ a dark aura surrounding him as he glowered out at the room, eyes glinting. "So he's just going to keep getting in the way."

"Not necessarily," Lust said coolly, placing a hand on her hip. "He could still die from blood loss."

"I don't think anything's that easy," I muttered, and Lust's gaze focused on me curiously for a moment before she shrugged.

"Perhaps, but he won't be a problem for now."

"Whatever." Envy muttered, getting out of his bed and turning to examine me. "So? Did you come here to order me around?"

"No. The only thing you have to do today is actually train Deceit to fight. Or are you going to keep putting that off and get yourself killed?"

"But it hurts to fight her!" Envy groaned, glaring at me. I wrinkled my nose back at him. Wasn't like it was 'fun' for me either. "…fine." He said, gritting his teeth. "Come on, weakling, let's go to where we have more room."

"Do we have to?" I hesitantly followed, nodding a goodbye to Lust and Gluttony. Envy glanced back at me before breaking into a run, his feet slapping against the floor. "Envy?!" I asked in surprise as I abruptly shot after him, breath instantly changing into pants. "H-hey, why are we… running… you're gonna… drag me… hey! Envyyyy!"

Envy didn't respond, he just kept running with me falling farther and farther behind. I stopped to catch my breath and the bond yanked at me, forcing me to run after him. After forty entire minutes of this cycle, I suddenly understood: this was the very meaning of torture.

Just as we came across a large space in the tunnels, Envy skidded to a stop and swiveled to face me. He held up a hand, red light crackling as he shifted it into a blade. "E-Envy?" I huffed, frowning at him. "What are-" Envy darted forwards, his arm swinging towards my head. "HOLY CRAP, ENVY! WHAT THE HECK?!" I yelped, trying to throw myself out of the way. Envy easily followed my movements with his gaze, nicking my cheek and shoulder within a few seconds despite my best attempts to dodge. He pressed forwards, face in mine and a smirk growing on his face as he stared into my eyes. He spun on his heel, planting a kick on my chest. I went flying, hitting the opposite wall and coughing as I tried to get up.

"Hmph, you really do look pathetic, weakling." Envy stated, watching as I slowly stood, stumbling a little as I tried to focus on him.

"You just randomly attacked me, what was I supposed to do?!" I yelled back, my chest heaving up and down. I felt uncomfortably hot without any sweat to dissipate the heat my body produced and I could feel the throb of my Philosopher's Stone growing stronger. Strange.

"Huuuh?" Envy placed a hand on his hip, tilting his head to the side. "You were told what we were doing today, weren't you?"

"B-but I was… you were… DON'T TRY TO CONFUSE ME WITH YOUR LIES, DEMON!"

Envy sighed, looking bored. "Stop yelling and just attack me already."

"Attack you?" I asked, and then froze. "Waiiiit. Attack _you_. Like, if I can I get to punch you in the face?" I looked down at my fists, clenching them. "So… you want the Dragonborn to attack you… well, if you insist!" I started running forwards, arms pumping awkwardly. "FOR NARNIAAAA!"

* * *

"I think we're done for the day, I'm bored." Envy declared, brushing his spiky hair back with a hand before glancing down at the twitching form by his feet. "Hey… are you _asleep_? What the hell?"

I moaned pitifully, covering my eyes with bloodied hands. "Narnia let me down."

"You rushed me with no weapon and no idea on where you were going from there, what did you expect, weakling?"

"To be able to suddenly speak an ancient language to put my screaming skills to actual use and unleash magical powers, duh." I muttered, wiping my bloody palms on the floor before standing up and checking my clothes. A few splatters of blood had gotten on to my hoodie, but it wasn't bad enough to throw my only jacket away. "So? Do we have to run back to Central?"

"That's right."

"…."

Envy studied my face for a moment before lifting an eyebrow and sighing. "I know I'm going to regret this, but _what_?"

"Can I have a piggy back ride back?" I begged, trying to pull a puppy face without cracking up as my lips twitched upwards. "I just spent so much energy getting my butt kicked that I might actually die if I exert any more effort."

Envy smacked his forehead, opening his eyes to stare at my incredulously. "What part of your stupid mind makes you think I would do that for you again?"

"Hey! You agreed that I wasn't stupid when-"

"So this is where you two ran off to." A familiar voice interrupted, and Envy and I stopped arguing to turn at stare at her.

"What now?" Envy questioned, stepping up to Lust. "Another mission from Father?"

"Whom we haven't seen much of lately," I muttered, wondering what he was plotting at the moment. "Not that I'm complaining, he gives me the creeps after all."

Lust smirked at Envy, using a gloved hand to toss her curly black hair over her shoulder. "That's right. We're wanted in Lab Five."

"….hmmm? Didn't all of the researchers get sacrificed a few hours ago?" Envy asked, smirking. (Meanwhile, I was trying _very _hard to resist the urge to kick him in the shin.)

"Yeah, but that's not it." Lust frowned, a flicker of annoyance flashing over her face. "It seems our two confirmed sacrifices managed to get in."

Envy blinked, his eyes flicking side to side as he searched his memory. "The pipsqueak and his brother?"

I swear, if I had been drinking something at that moment, I would have done a spit-take. The pipsqueak? Did that mean… Edward Elric? Yes, it must be! No one else was that short and a sacrifice! I snapped to attention, watching everything with a nervous gaze. I was about to see something familiar, a landmark of recognition for me, I was sure of it.

But as good as the events turning out the same way was, this was also a landmark signaling the countdown to Hughes's death. I swallowed, mentally preparing myself.

Lust nodded. "That's right. Now, hurry up, if they discover anything that Father doesn't want them to know…"

"Got it. Let's go."

I swallowed, eyes wide. With Ed finding Lab Five, I knew it had started.

The countdown to Hughes's death would officially start today.

* * *

**And next chapter we finally start the plot! :D**

**Please read and review~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Soul Partners**

**Hey, everyone! Well, both good and bad news here. First off, the GOOD news is that I am not doing NaNoWriMo this year. (Y'know, that insane 'write a novel in a month' thing? Yes? It's a great way for writers to grow.) I normally do it at this time of the year but I've just been so BUSY! So… yeah. I'm going to take my frustration out on fanfiction this month whenever I have time. The not so good news is the reason I can update this month is _because_ of how busy I am PLUS I'm going to start the sequel to Shadows of Pride soon (for those of you that have read that). So chapters might be a bit later than they've been once in a while. Please be patient with meeeeeee~**

**Oh yeah, and I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween, yeah?**

**I don't feel that good about this chapter... not that much happened outside of normal, but it was important to get through this. Because the only canon scene that I'm super excited about at the moment is Hughes's death... -evil laughter.-**

**And if you guys didn't notice, lots of what happens in this chapter is from one of the episodes in Brotherhood. Just to clear that up. :D**

**So, because I'm rambling now, on with the story, thanks for reading, I don't own FMA, blah blah blahhhhhh.**

* * *

Envy turned on to his heel, breaking into an abrupt dash. Lust followed close behind before pausing and glancing back at me. "Envy."

"What now?" Envy glanced back as well before groaning as I sat down on the floor, crossing my arms as I waited for him to get the memo. "Oh, for the… if you don't hurry up, you'll get dragged behind us, weakling!"

I gave him a pointed stare before smiling innocently and tilting my head to the side. "I'll still slow you down that way, _soul partner_."

"Why you little piece of-"

"Just do what she wants and carry her," Lust muttered in amused exasperation. "Honestly, you two are like squabbling little kids."

Envy shot Lust a 'shut up' glower before stomping over to me and giving me the same look. I grinned up at him, and he narrowed his eyes before grabbing the back of my hoodie and throwing me back over his shoulder. I landed with a gasp as the air escaped my lungs, making me cough. "Let's go."

I groaned, feeling like I should delay Lust and Envy a little more before we arrived at Lab Five. "Envyyyyyy, I _meant_ a piggy back ride."

"Like I care what you want."

"Meanie." I tilted my head up to watch the tunnels as we kept walking. Every step was taking us back to _that_ place….Lab Five. A shiver ran through my body, and I closed my eyes as bloody images and screams echoed through my head. No. It wouldn't be like that this time… I had seen all of this before. I knew what would happen, and everything would be fine for now. Just fine.

But still, something in me was nervous at finally meeting the Fullmetal Alchemist. I mean, I was a homunculus… what could I say?

Come to think of it, could I even say _anything_?

I didn't have to spend too long accumulating my worries, though. Envy and Lust swiftly arrived at Lab Five, the two fast and silent on their feet. Clanging sounds were echoing from the dark courtyard, and we passed the fence in time to see two large figures attacking each other, one holding a long, glistening knife. Envy also glanced over and turned so I couldn't see the figures no matter how much I tried to lean over. I wished he would just put me down already, this was getting _really _annoying. But wait… hadn't I asked him to carry me in the first place? Huh.

Well, be careful what you wish for, kiddies, you don't ever want to be carried by Envy 'cause he's a jerk face.

Lust glanced over at the battle before sighing. "It's one of our guards going after the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother," she said evenly, continuing forwards so we stepped out of sight.

"Do we need to break it up?" Envy wondered, his face obscured from my view.

"…No. It looked like the sacrifice was safe but being kept occupied. It's where the other mouse snuck in that we need to worry about."

"More like rat," Envy mused, leading the way towards the main door. Lust waited as Envy unlocked it, and the two entered, living shadows in the eerie building. The silence was palpable, my nervous breathing the only sound I could hear.

And then there was a voice.

And this voice didn't belong to a homunculus, either.

This voice was familiar, and even though it sounded breathless and worried, it just seemed so strong and kind and familiar and comforting to just _hear_…

It wasn't hard for me to guess whose voice that was.

Suddenly, I was dropped to the floor, my arms flailing at the unexpected event. I managed to land somewhat quietly, and I was proud of myself for a moment until I realized that Envy had meant to let me land painlessly for once. Probably since he would get yelled at if he was the one who messed this up for making a noise to alert our targets. The said homunculus glanced down at me, his eyes in shadow. He mouthed something, and I frowned at him. He rolled his eyes again, and leaned close to me. "Vanish already!"

"I'll try," I grumbled back. "But don't expect much results, Mr. Grumpypants... Hey, you know what you gotta do in these situations? You gotta just keep swimming, just keep swim-"

"Not the time!" Envy growled, his voice rising a little. I shrugged. Hey, what could I say? I was nervous, okay? Frankly, I was surprised Envy hadn't cut me off sooner. Normally I wouldn't have done anything just to spite Envy, but I wanted to be able to see Edward so I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself fading away into thin air. After a moment I cracked one eye open and Envy nodded at me before turning his attention back to the Fullmetal Alchemist's voice. In turn, I suddenly realized that yes, I was so nervous that I felt like throwing up.

"…For that, boy, I'll give you a parting gift. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you who made the Philosopher's Stone…." Lust and Envy swiftly exchanged glances, an unspoken exchange passing between them, and Lust stepped forwards, her boots clicking on the floor as she walked forwards. I couldn't see, but the voice continued, oblivious to the danger his life as in. I bit my lip, eyes wide. I knew what was about to happen. "…and ordered us to guard this place."

A swooshing sound, followed by a loud clang. A serious of exclamations burst out from two other people, and I could imagine Lust smirking.

"My, that was a close call. Number forty-eight, you should know better than to talk about things that don't concern you."

Envy grinned, stepping out into the light. I followed behind, blinking as I was surrounded once again by brightness. Envy grinned, hands on his hips as he leaned forwards. "Well, well, would you look at that, what's the Fullmetal Pipsqueak doing here?"

"Like you didn't know," I mumbled, and Envy discreetly stepped on my toe. I bit my lip, glaring at my unfortunate companion.

Lust ignored me, sighing. "Such a troublesome boy. How did you find out about this place?" She widened the gap between her fingers; the armored head trapped on her cruel nails groaning as he was brutally ripped in half.

Another one on the ground started screaming, and I glanced down at the headless body and shivered. It was so strange to see an empty shell of someone. But still, with my strange body, could I really judge? Envy leaned down and picked up a sword, examining it for a moment. Right. Just give an already dangerous insane killer a pointy stick. Just what the world needed.

Envy suddenly stabbed at the screaming armor's back area, where I remembered was his blood seal. He lifted it and kept stabbing as the hand by the side stiffened, and I resisted the urge to kick Envy in the shins once again and steal that sword... Let's see how Envy liked his chest being stabbed with it, shall we? But still, I couldn't intervene here. What was that thing called again? The butterfly effect? This was a killer that was dying as part of the plotline; I didn't want to risk messing everything up over something like this. Besides…. The poor guy was alone in a world that hated him without a normal body…. maybe...

Wait. Wasn't that basically me? I tensed my shoulders, glancing at Envy as I realized that he was the only person who really talked to me. If I vanished, he would be the nly one to notice besides Father, and he would be _glad_ of it.

Well _that _wasn't depressing at all.

And deep down, I knew that I _did_ have a choice to save the Slasher brother. If I wanted to, I could stop Envy. But I was still a timid teenage girl, no matter how I tried to hide it in front of Envy. I wasn't strong… I was just selfish, wanting everything to work out my way. Well, I was a Sin now, a homunculus, not even human, so maybe that selfishness was to be expected… but if I said that, it sounded like an excuse. Another lie, another way to deceive myself… Ironic, huh? Deceit deceiving herself.

"Quit your pathetic blubbering you idiot! You could've of messed up the entire plan, what would we have done then?! Huh!?" Envy glared down at the now-motionless body before removing the sword, stepping over it to something else. Some_one_ else. My eyes followed him as I looked to my right, and I realized just how close I was to a certain short alchemist.

Edward Elric was sitting there, blood trickling down his face and an arm pressed against the other. His clothes were ripped and bloodied, but his eyes shone brighter and hotter than the sun. Without realizing what I was doing, I scrambled across the floor as quietly as I could, squatting down to his eye level to examine him closely, careful that he didn't feel my breath or notice me in any way. No freaking way. No freaking _way_. The reality of exactly what I was in the middle of seemed to smack me in the face again, and I shivered as Envy and Lust advanced, surrounding Ed. Together, the three of us completely covered any exits, but Edward wasn't aware of me. He glared at the others like I didn't exist. And even though I was invisible and trying _not_ to be noticed, part of me hoped that he would notice me somehow. Silly, huh? Even Edward Elric couldn't save me now that I was stuck with palm tree head. Oh well.

Ed stiffened as his enemies stepped closer, pushing himself up to face his enemies at a somewhat higher altitude (Not really… he was still short, pfffft). He was raggedly breathing, and he kept glaring daggers at Envy in particular of the two homunculi. "Tell me who you people are. What plan are you talking about? What do you mean when you say important sacrifice?"

Envy leaned forwards, grinning. Before now, I had never realized how it looked like they were about to kiss before. Huuuuuuuuh. So _that's _where all the Edvy fangirls came from! Well, even if I hadn't been an Edvy fangirl, which would certainly be funny to tease Envy about later. I noted that with a small smile, nodding approvingly to myself. Good, ticking off the palm tree was my current (and only) hobby in this world.

Envy smirked, clearly invading Ed's personal space like he was just asking for it. "Oh, my. The pipsqueak's _raring_ to go, I think I made it angry!"

"Don't call me pipsqueak again…"

"Then what would you prefer, eh, pipsqueak?"

Ed suddenly lashed out with his foot, and Envy leaned back, magnificently flipping his hair up into the air to avoid Ed's blow. I swear, the homunculus could flip his hair better than Justin Bieber. That takes skill, people!

"Whoah now, there's no need to fight here. Someone might get hurt y'know." I rolled my eyes, smacking myself in the face. Where was this attitude an hour or two ago, again? It would have been nice not have gotten pulverized by Envy again. And also, why did I have to shut up for the time being? I couldn't even make a sarcastic remark right now, however much I wanted to.

Ed scowled, clapping his hands together as a ringing sound echoed out. "This is a fight that you started! So come on!"

His arm suddenly made a groan of protest, the limb falling limply to the side as the owner paused and stared at it in shock and disbelief.

Envy grinned, looking like it was Christmas morning, while Lust blankly stared at Ed."….technical difficulties?" She asked.

"AHHHHH!" Ed screamed in alarm, shock written on his face.

Then, Envy reminded me why I had liked him as a character before all of this… insanity had happened. He ran forwards, placing a hand on the short teenager's head and grasping Ed's braid with the other. "Lucky me!" He thrust his knee into Ed's stomach, making the teenager sputter and choke. Envy lifted Ed by his hair and smirked. "You're fortunate your arm's broken. If not for that, you wouldn't be getting off so easily." Envy dropped Ed, turning back to glance at Lust.

Suddenly, I made a mistake, my mouth seeming to move again on its own. "Oh, so you had to knee him and _then_ hold him by the hair, that's _very _nice." Envy and Lust both froze, staring at me (Or…. my general direction at least, they were a little off to my right) as Ed gasped, his eyes struggling to stay focused as he glanced around, looking for the culprit that had spoken.

That moment, Lust decided to step in and take Ed's attention off of the third voice. "Listen to me well, boy. Don't ever forget this: always remember we allowed you to live." Just as Ed's eyes rolled back and his eyelids slid shut, Lust sighed. "We can't have him poking around this place again; it's too dangerous! It'll have to go; blow it up."

I considered Ed for a moment more before deciding that he was, in fact, truly and utterly dead to the world. "Oh suuuure. Because bombs help everything."

"I can't believe you, weakling. You weren't supposed to talk!" Envy hissed, also checking that Ed was unconscious. "I'm going to _kill_ you when we get back!"

"That's not very fair, you had_ your _share of witty banter. I, on the other hand, didn't get any! What do you think I am, your sidekick? Hello, I can turn invisible just like Danny opposed to you, so that doesn't seem very fair." As I talked, I suddenly had a feeling familiar to like someone flipping a light switch inside of me, and I flickered back into view. "…dang it."

Lust sighed, brushing her hair back with one hand. "It's okay, Deceit, we don't need you to be invisible at the moment. But it is necessary to keep you out of the way, and hopefully out of sight for as long as possible since you can't exactly control your powers yet."

"…ok." I said after a moment of awkward silence with Envy glaring at me and Lust examining Ed. "Y'know, Lust, I have decided that you're my favorite homunculus of the moment. Because I've only met Gluttony, Wrath, and Envy, and they aren't exactly nice." I smirked back at Envy, who just rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut it. Like I care if you like me or not." Envy sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "Well this is a mess. I'll take the pipsqueak out to his_ dear_ brother so he doesn't die, then."

"Alright. I'll start getting rid of any evidence." Lust smiled, walking back towards the hallways. "Good luck, then."

Envy and I glanced at each other, and then Envy shrugged and leaned down to heft Edward on to his shoulder. I blinked at him for a moment, then gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Envy. "YOU!"

"…what is it now?" Envy sighed. "We have a limited amount of time for your antics, weakling."

"Butbutbut…. Ed's on _my_ shoulder." I declared, scowling at Envy as I dramatically made myself look like I was about to cry. "I feel like you're cheating on me, that's so mean, Envy!"

"…you've _got _to be kidding me." Envy said in disgust. He shifted Ed to his other shoulder, quirking an eyebrow at me. "There. Well? Can we go?"

I laughed, amused that Envy actually moved Edward. Normally he's quite a lazy person, so that meant either he cared about me or I was just annoying enough to make him want to shut me up by just going with some of the more simple requests I had.

…

...

IT WAS INDISPUTABLY OPTION TWO. THE WORLD WOULD END IF IT WAS ONE, WOULDN'T IT?!

As I pondered this idea with wide eyes, Envy tilted his head up to watch as the building started to shake, explosions starting to destroy the building to its very foundation. I noticed a hole in the wall up ahead, and Envy turned to glance at me. "Stay here in the dust, don't die." He ordered before slipping outside. I couldn't hear him talking to Al and… what was her name again? Ross? Yeah, Ross. But I knew it was happening.

The building started shaking even harder as it tried to hold itself together, little rocks showing down on my head. I clanked up, my eyes tracing the path of spider web cracks that kept growing. A loud crack appeared over my head, and I jerked my head up in time to see the ceiling starting to cave, falling straight towards my head. I gasped, backing up a little but unable to move, my legs hopelessly shaking just like the building. Then Envy suddenly appeared, grabbing me and flinging me over his shoulder, nimbly leaping through the rubble. We slipped back out of the quaking building, where Envy slowed to a trot as he kept to the shadows.

"I wasn't even thirty feet away and you almost died." He muttered in annoyance, and I weakly laughed.

"Sorry. That _must_ inconvenience you, huh?"

"Yes, actually, it does."

I felt tired from the day's strain on my philological health, having the urge to yawn out of habit. "Hmm. I'm tired; can we actually have some sleep two nights in a row?"

"No."

"Jerk." I rolled my eyes at the blunt response, annoyed but unsurprised. "So? What now? Edward Elric knows about you and Lust."

Envy snorted, amused. "Yes, but all he knows is our faces. Who knows, he might just try chasing a new trail for his dream, whatever that was, I forget... Oh, wait, the Philosopher's Stone." Envy laughed, shaking his head as he talked. "That's too bad; I was right next to him and he didn't even know just what I'm based off of."

I sighed. "Yeah. What if he investigates you, though? He could spoil your evil plan thingy."

"Wrath will watch him. If anything goes wrong, we'll know right away and then we can act, idiot." Envy said as we stepped into the passage to the sewers.

"Even if you have to kill someone?" I asked in a small voice, staring at the ground as my arms swung back and forth as Envy walked.

Envy chuckled again, and I could feel his shoulders tighten as he shrugged. "Especially then; don't you know, weakling, that I enjoy jobs like that?"

"…all too well."

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